Committee considers death penalty if victim is under age eighteen

On Tuesday, February 7 a House committee heard public testimony on HB 351, a bill that would allow the death penalty for any case where someone "knowingly causes the death" of someone under age eighteen. 

Current state law allows the death penalty if the victim is a law enforcement officer; if the perpetrator pays someone to commit the murder; if the perpetrator is already serving a life sentence; or if the murder is committed during a kidnapping, burglary, sexual assault, or large drug deal. 

Bill supporters argue that because children are so defenseless, the state has a duty to provide them with extra protection - including harsher penalties for anyone who kills a child. They note that a custodial parent who knowingly kills a child is not eligible for the death penalty under current law.

Bill opponents caution that the chance of putting an innocent person to death is still too high. Former state prosecutor Barbara Keshen testified about the murder of 6-year-old Elizabeth Knapp, saying, if not for DNA evidence the state would have falsely convicted the boyfriend of Knapp's mother for the murder.

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