Jessica and her purple dolphin.......

I have never been for the death penalty. It just never made any sense to me, and seemed like the poorer the convicted, the more likely the death penalty would be the sentence in those states where they had it. I was always very glad to live in a State that did not, and now, in WI--
Life Means Life. No parole. Life in prison.

I am having a very hard time NOT desiring a death penalty sentence right now, however, and have been struggling with anger as I listen to the news out of Florida and watch the anguish of
Jessica Marie Lunsford's father, Mark Lunsford and all of her family, as they learn that she was buried with her purple stuffed dolphin, probably alive.

I am having such a hard time, in fact, that I have even found myself wishing that it were possible to do to Couey what he did to little Jessica....

That is not my rational self speaking, but the parent and grandparent in me who cannot IMAGINE anyone even sexually molesting a child, but then add burying that child (or anyone for that matter) alive!

How she must have suffered. How frightened she must have been the entire time, but then not being able to breathe, there in the dark, all alone with her purple dolphin. I pray that God was merciful to her and took her swiftly, that He provided Angels there to take her swiftly..... I pray for that family, to be healed.

John Evander Couey has been arrested, probably will be found guilty, and won't be
liked by his fellow prisoners. Child molesters rate very low in the eyes of those incarcerated, I understand, and the fact that Jessica was buried alive won't
bode well for him.

May God have Mercy on him.

Officials Say Girl Raped, Buried Alive

Apr 20, 7:24 PM (ET)

(AP) Mark Lunsford, father of murder victim Jessica Lunsford, right, shows his emotion as he speaks at a... Full Image

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - A 9-year-old girl was raped, bound and buried alive, kneeling and clutching a purple stuffed dolphin, state prosecutors said in documents released Wednesday.

Jessica Lunsford's body was found March 19 buried about 150 yards from her house in Homosassa, about 60 miles north of Tampa.

According to the documents, Jessica was found wearing shorts and a shirt - different from the pink nightgown her family said she was wearing when they reported her missing Feb. 24, The Tampa Tribune said in its online edition late Wednesday.

The body was wrapped in two plastic trash bags knotted at her head and feet in a grave covered by a mound of leaves, the state attorney's office said in the documents.

Jessica died of asphyxiation, according to a coroner's report. A convicted sex offender, John Evander Couey, 46, is charged in her slaying.

Officials said they believe Jessica may have been alive in Couey's home while police and volunteers searched for her. After she was killed, Couey fled to Georgia.

A message left for Couey's attorney was not immediately returned Wednesday evening.