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BRUNSWICK, Ga. —

A Georgia teen convicted of fatally shooting a baby in a stroller was sentenced Thursday to spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole after the grieving mother asked a judge to punish the gunman for taking "the love of my life."

De'Marquise Elkins, 18, stood silent and showed no emotion as he was sentenced in a courtroom less than two weeks after a jury found him guilty of murder in the slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago during a robbery attempt.

"His first word was never heard. His first sentence was never said," Sherry West, the baby's mother, said through tears on the witness stand as she read a statement made to rhyme like a poem or a nursery rhyme. "He never got to sleep in a toddler bed."

The baby was in his stroller and out for a walk with his mother when he was shot between the eyes March 21 in the Georgia coastal city of Brunswick. West, and a younger teenager charged as an accomplice, both testified at trial that Elkins killed the baby after his mother refused to give up her purse.

The killing drew national attention and Elkins' trial was moved more than 300 miles away to the Atlanta suburbs because of pretrial publicity.

Elkins was spared the death penalty because the killing occurred when he was 17, which the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled is too young to face capital punishment. Under Georgia law, the only possible punishments for Elkins were life with or without a chance of parole.

Elkins' defense attorneys told Superior Court Judge Stephen Kelley that life without parole was too harsh for such a young defendant. They introduced court documents from the past seven years showing Elkins had been neglected by a mother who struggled with drug abuse and sometimes left him home alone without food.

The judge not only gave Elkins the maximum possible punishment for his murder conviction, but also sentenced him to 105 additional years in prison for other counts including aggravated assault and attempted armed robbery. That included 30 years for shooting and wounding a pastor outside his church 10 days before the killing.

"We're definitely disappointed with the ruling," defense attorney Kevin Gough said as he left Glynn County Superior Court. "Life without parole for a juvenile, our position remains, is cruel and unusual punishment."

Gough said he plans to appeal both the verdict and the sentence. Elkins would have been eligible for parole in 30 years had that been allowed as part of his sentence.

Ultimately the judge sided with prosecutors who spoke of the brutal circumstances of the crime and that Elkins escaped facing the death penalty only because he was a few months shy of his 18th birthday when the baby was slain.

"He aimed that gun right between that baby's eyes and shot that baby," District Attorney Jackie Johnson said. "I don't know of a more inhumane act or wantonly vile act ... than to aim a gun at a sleeping baby in a stroller and take that baby's life."

At trial, prosecutors had said West was pushing her son in his stroller home that March day from a post office when two teenagers approached her, blocks from her apartment.

Dominique Lang, 15, testified at trial he was with Elkins when the older teen pulled a gun and demanded West's purse. When she refused, Lang said, Elkins twice threatened her baby and counted down from five.

West testified she pleaded with Elkins that she had no money and tried to cover her child with her arms as the gunman fired a warning shot, a bullet into her leg and then shot the baby.

West left the courthouse Thursday without comment after sentencing. On the witness stand, she told the judge he deserved "a life in prison."

"The love of my life was taken away, far away," West said. "All I can do is cry and wonder when I'm going to die."

Police recovered a .22-caliber revolver from a pond, and prosecutors said it matched the gun used in the killing.

Lang also faces murder charges. No trial date has been set and it's unknown how his cooperation in the Elkins prosecution might affect his case.

Elkins' mother, Karimah Elkins, stood trial alongside him and was convicted of evidence tampering for helping dispose of the gun. Elkins' sister and aunt have also been charged with trying to help him avoid prosecution.

Elkins' never testified at his two-week trial in August. But his defense attorneys argued police rushed to build a case against Elkins without considering other possible suspects. They even suggested the slain child's own parents may have been the real killers.
 
When my little girl was growing up, I told her there are no monsters.
After she turned fourteen, I told her there are monsters, and De'Marquise Elkins is one of them.
 
Personally I think the mother should be given a scalpel and allowed to skin him alive, then lock him up for life.
Ohh yes and some salt.
Harsh.... no..........not for subhumans.
 
<broken link removed>

Teen convicted of killing baby gets life in prison | Nation & World | The Seattle Times

BRUNSWICK, Ga. —

A Georgia teen convicted of fatally shooting a baby in a stroller was sentenced Thursday to spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole after the grieving mother asked a judge to punish the gunman for taking "the love of my life.".

One GOOD JUDGE, but still was too light of a sentence.
I stick by my scalpel and salt in the hands of the mother kind of punishment.
You can damned well bet anyone thinking of ever doing that again would think long and hard.
Any and all sympathy for scum like that burned out long ago.
 
Locked door..........Mother with a Ballbat, and Elkins strapped into a chair!! He needs to go!!

but Too quick and too easy.
Guess my Christian beliefs backslide a little with people like this. :-/
With 11 grandkids and 2 great grandkids it becomes instinctive to want people like that
to be ground into fertilizer.
 
More of the same.............................

2 indicted in death of NYC toddler shot while father pushing him in stroller | Fox News


2 indicted in death of NYC toddler shot while father pushing him in stroller

Published September 12, 2013
Associated Press

NEW YORK – Two men have been indicted in the shooting death of a New York City toddler being pushed in a stroller.

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said Daquan Breland and Daquan Wright were charged Thursday with murder and weapons possession in the death of 16-month-old Antiq (An-TEEK') Hennis.

A lawyer for Wright didn't immediately return a call for comment; it wasn't clear who was representing Breland.

The 23-year-old Breland and 19-year-old Wright were arrested last week in Wilkes-Barre (WILKS'-ba-ree), Pa.

Authorities say Antiq's father Anthony Hennis was pushing him in a stroller Sept. 1 when shots were fired. Aniq was struck in the head and pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police believe the father was the intended target and the shooting may have been gang-related. They say he hasn't cooperated in the investigation.
 
but Too quick and too easy.
Guess my Christian beliefs backslide a little with people like this. :-/
With 11 grandkids and 2 great grandkids it becomes instinctive to want people
like that to be ground into fertilizer.


Please, your Christian Belief's Do Not backslide a single bit. That thinking ~is~ Just Wrong And I might add, not Christian to think that way!!!

In our LORD's time, the punishment would have been Swift, Final and would include the mother.

Read. The Book!!!!

Even Our current ways of thinking, about taking out the Trash, are & Have Been, manipulated by satans minions. Some Times it is good,to remember definitions, so:
MINION, n. min'yon. A favorite; a darling; particularly, the favorite of a prince, on whom he lavishes his favors; one who gains favors by flattery or mean adulation.

Websters 1828 Dictionary

Now, Saleh. Which means, pause, reflect. return to the subject matter. The person, facing life+150 years, for such a crime wave.... Simply is no longer human. It is a minion of satan.

And Any punishment we could stomach to give "it" is miniscule to what it gets later... At judgement day... So Do Not Judge yourself "unChristian" for destroying satanic work ...

Nuff said.

philip,
defender of Christians who get deluded in thought... Easy to do.
 

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