Some Justice For Riley Ann Sawyers, "Baby Grace"

• I cannot believe this horrific act happened to this beautiful little child. To hit your child with a belt or to even think of doing that is truly sick, cruel and not human. This mother and stepfather should have the same thing done to them as what they did to this poor innocent child. This breaks my heart and I cannot seem to get it out of my mind. All I can think of is when this child woke up the next morning it was the end of her life. How tragic. Too many women are having children at a young age and cannot handle the responsibility and are not mature enough to make healthy decisions based on the child's needs. The mother was self-absorbed with this ugly whatever you want to call him, coward of a man hitting on a small child. May he rot in hell for all eternity along with the mother. Who doesn't deserve to be called a mother. Who would in God's name moved in with someone you met over the internet. That's insane. That shows you how sick, demented and desparate the mother was. She should have left the child with the real father and Grandmother. But instead she was being a bitch and poor little Riley paid the price. This case make me show angry and sad all the time. I hope mothers out there will think when their child acts up, that it is only natural and age appropriate. If they cannot handle it they need to get help. Poor Riley tried to tell her mother she loved her to forestall the abuse and this heartless, cruel mother did not listen. What A shame that the step-father was unsuccessful in killing himself. Like someone else said, they will endure abuse in prison all in due time. Because not for nothing other prisoners cannot take the fact that other prisoners have killed children. My heart goes out to the grandmother of Riley's real father and her Grandma Cheryl. I cannot even imagine what they have endured. This is truly a case to painful to remember, but too painful to forget. The mother's journal shows how sick she really was. And I too believe that they should have sought the death penalty in this case. She admitted what they did and tried to conceal the evidence. It was a slam dunk. They don't even derserve a life in prison. Their still breathing air. I hope they see Riley's face every time they wake up in the morning and that they have the worst nightmares ever. I feel so sad about this case. I wish it didn't happen.

• Hello, Riley is a just a child, how can the mum do this to her. I am very sure the mom is an extremely sick person. Many parents yearn to have a child but just couldnt get one ,and would love and pamper the child if they have one. The letter that she wrote portrays the thoughts of a mentally illed and disordered person. BUt what im saying is, even if she is mentally illed , does not mean she has a right to do whatever she wants to her child. She has been abused when a kid, and should have learnt from her own experience that discipline does not come from harsh beatings. She did not learn but instead killed her own child? I think she is a lunatic and pervert killer. There is a proverb saying in our country, even an fierce tiger would love its own child. But this case is exceptional. Plus, in her age, she and her so called husband is totally not fit to be parents. Im so sorry to say that, that the mother might have never wanted this child also, and she it was out of pleasure instead of wanting pregnancy. Hate these kind of people.

• Hello, moderator??????? I know I didn't push send that many times!!!! <strong>NOTE FROM STEVE: You probably did. The blog is updating more slowly than it has in the past and I've had a little epidemic of people double-posting comments. So you're not the only one. I just didn't catch the repeats.</strong>

• Native Texan, I hate it when the Comments section acts up (like it apparently did with your comment x4); I feel your pain. I've always admired Texas' policy of actually executing those who are sentenced to it. Either the state trusts the jury system or it doesn't. Too often the anti-death penalty crowd wants to twist the system into as many loops as possible in order to avoid it, no matter how hypocritical, non sequitur and cruel to the victim direct and our society as victim at large. I can't say it too often: execute the guilty, then spend the money that would have continued their upkeep to rehabilitate* the victims. *Per Merriam Webster dot com: 1 a: to restore to a former capacity : reinstate b: to restore to good repute : reestablish the good name of; 2 a: to restore to a former state (as of efficiency, good management, or solvency) <rehabilitate slum areas> b: to restore or bring to a condition of health or useful and constructive activity

• Alexa, Yes, I had mentioned Andrea in another post earlier. She and her husband had been involved with a religious "cult" which was part of her problem, not to mention the fact she was psychotic and schizophrenic. I think her husband was equally guilty of the deaths of those children. He stood by and let her have child after child knowing how at risk she and all their kids were. I was shocked and appalled that she got off with insanity. Unbelievable. When I said to rely on God, that is why I also mentioned at the bottom of my post to stop using religion as a crutch for everything that goes wrong in a person's life. Next thing you know we'll have Casey Anthony telling us she has "found God". I think anyone who kills little children should get the death penalty, and in Texas you are supposed to. The lawyers keep finding loopholes.

• Alexa, Yes, I had mentioned Andrea in another post earlier. She and her husband had been involved with a religious "cult" which was part of her problem, not to mention the fact she was psychotic and schizophrenic. I think her husband was equally guilty of the deaths of those children. He stood by and let her have child after child knowing how at risk she and all their kids were. I was shocked and appalled that she got off with insanity. Unbelievable. When I said to rely on God, that is why I also mentioned at the bottom of my post to stop using religion as a crutch for everything that goes wrong in a person's life. Next thing you know we'll have Casey Anthony telling us she has "found God". I think anyone who kills little children should get the death penalty, and in Texas you are supposed to. The lawyers keep finding loopholes.

• Alexa, Yes, I had mentioned Andrea in another post earlier. She and her husband had been involved with a religious "cult" which was part of her problem, not to mention the fact she was psychotic and schizophrenic. I think her husband was equally guilty of the deaths of those children. He stood by and let her have child after child knowing how at risk she and all their kids were. I was shocked and appalled that she got off with insanity. Unbelievable. When I said to rely on God, that is why I also mentioned at the bottom of my post to stop using religion as a crutch for everything that goes wrong in a person's life. Next thing you know we'll have Casey Anthony telling us she has "found God". I think anyone who kills little children should get the death penalty, and in Texas you are supposed to. The lawyers keep finding loopholes.

• Alexa, Yes, I had mentioned Andrea in another post earlier. She and her husband had been involved with a religious "cult" which was part of her problem, not to mention the fact she was psychotic and schizophrenic. I think her husband was equally guilty of the deaths of those children. He stood by and let her have child after child knowing how at risk she and all their kids were. I was shocked and appalled that she got off with insanity. Unbelievable. When I said to rely on God, that is why I also mentioned at the bottom of my post to stop using religion as a crutch for everything that goes wrong in a person's life. Next thing you know we'll have Casey Anthony telling us she has "found God". I think anyone who kills little children should get the death penalty, and in Texas you are supposed to. The lawyers keep finding loopholes.

• No offense, but a lot of people do FROG (that mnemonic doesn't work so great for me, but, whatever...) and a good many of them kill their children too. I am thinking specifically about Andrea Yates. The real trick is not over-doing anything, including either sparing the rod or not sparing the rod. I really don't care of capital punishment works as a deterrent. I just want them gone. I don't want to support them, I don't want to care for them. Rehabilitation is one big joke. The money my government steals from me for the upkeep of the GUILTY is money my government will not spend on the upkeep of the INNOCENT victim. Simple math.

• What never ceases to amaze me is the the most important thing we will ever do in this life is the raising of our children. You mess that up and you might as well pack it in. Yet there is absolutely NO training, NO qualifications, NO prerequisites, any fool with one eye and bat sense can be a parent. And boy does it show. Especially in the schools. I feel so sorry for kids nowadays. The dangers they face, the bad parenting, and there seems to be no end in sight, and the forecast doesn't look good either. People, there is only one solution-------------FROG!!! FULLY RELY ON GOD!!! And when I say that I don't mean take Bible verses out of context and think you can beat your child with a belt because the Bible says it is ok. IT DOES NOT SAY THAT ANYWHERE! And don't use that line about sparing the rod. We are not living in ancient times, we are living in a dangerous violent world, and further perpetrating that violence on children to keep them in line DOESN'T WORK!!

• I read the confession. This woman is totally delusional. She is right were she belongs a long with her piece of sh*t husband. It's so sad that Riley had no chance. Riley means courageous, she certainly was a courageous baby.

• All I can say is "GOOD." Thank God this piece of crap mother will be put away for life. One of the reasons that I was hoping for a death penalty sought in this case is because I would rather have seen this mother on death row than in a regular, fairly cushy prison cell. Even if prisoners on death row never actually get put to death, their days are much more miserable than your run-of-the-mill prisoner. Either way, may this little girl rest in peace. I take comfort in Native Texan's post. I am heartened that the people of Galveston County had this little one in their prayers.

• I couldn't read that whole diary entry. The mother is an idiot, and lacks empathy. Who expects a TWO year old to behave in a movie theater? She's obsessed with the child's lack of manners, when she never lived long enough to learn any. Horrifying!!

• The state may not be seeking/imposing the death penalty, but that's okay. Their fellow inmates will take care of it. All in good time.

• Ronni, that diary entry is appalling. I can't say I've followed the case all that closely but reading that tells me all I need to know. I can hardly believe that someone could do something like that, especially to their own child.

• [Correction to my comment above: The last sentence of the second paragraph should read: "At least, it would not aggravate the injury of the murder most foul by forcing us to feed, clothe and incarcerate the despicable monsters who merely resemble humans." I hate when the clipboard takes over and makes me look bad. Heh.]

• Ronni, you are right. I was also outraged when I read the news report that the prosecutor made that lame excuse for not pursuing the death sentence. Stunning. We have more wusses in prosecutor's offices than is healthy for us. Death is not the worst that can happen. In the case of this little girl's killers, execution is civic hygiene. At least, it does not add aggravate the injury most foul by forcing us to feed, clothe and incarcerate the despicable monster who merely resembles the exterior of a human. Justice is not vengeance.

• I read somewhere that the reason the death penalty was not sought was that prosecutors thought they might not be able to convince a jury that these two abominations represented a continuing threat to society. I have trouble understanding that, especially here in Texas. I contend that they would certainly be a continued threat to any children unfortunate enough to find themselves in their care. And, if they are a threat to children, are they not a threat to society? Still, as they are unlikely to come into contact with children in prison, I guess it's all good. Did you read her journal entry about killing Riley? http://dig.abclocal.go.com/ktrk/ktrk_020209_trenor.pdf Be prepared to be angry.

• The people of Galveston County took this case to heart from day one, we "adopted" little Baby Grace and gave her her dignity back by creating a beautiful memorial, paying for a casket and flying her body back home. We vowed to find the killers of this precious child. I believe both parents should have gotten the death penalty, but in matters of law, we don't always get what we want. Just remember, "Vengeance is Mine Sayeth the Lord."

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