Thousands petition the White House demanding fiend who ‘raped baby girl to death’ face a public hanging
Benjamin R. Taylor, of West Virginia, currently faces life in prison on charges of murder and sexual assault of Emmaleigh Barringer
THOUSANDS have signed a petition calling for the hanging of a man who allegedly raped and beat to death his girlfriend's 10-month-old baby girl.
Benjamin R. Taylor, of Cottageville, West Virginia, faces life in prison on charges of murder and sexual assault of Emmaleigh Barringer.
But while West Virginia abolished the death penalty decades ago, many are now calling are on the White House to change the rules for Taylor if he's found guilty.
The petition states 'Prison is too good for child rapists and their ilk'.
If the Obama Administration gets 100,000 signatures in 30 days it will be forced to consider the plea.
The girl's mother Amanda Leigh Adkins reportedly woke up on Monday to find her baby girl naked and bleeding on her basement floor.
Emmaleigh suffered extensive bleeding indicating a brutal sexual assault, according to a criminal complaint.
She also is said to have shown signs of having been shaken and struck in the face.
The little girl was later declared brain dead at the hospital, reports the.
The petition had nearly 32,000 signatures as of Friday morning.
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"When it's an open and shut case such as this, let us hang these creatures publicly" wrote J.R., who started the petition on Wednesday.
"Let us make examples of them, and allow the American people to attend these hangings so that the accused may be ridiculed, as they should be"
Emmaleigh's family say the accused was like a 'Prince Charming' who swept the baby's mum off her feet.
"She was so lit up inside — he wanted to do things with her, he hung out with the kids," said Danielle Adkins, a cousin to Emmaleigh's mother, to .
Relatives held a candlelight vigil in Emmaleigh's memory on Friday as they prepare for her funeral this weekend.
Police said that when they arrived they found Taylor trying to 'wipe something' off his groin area, which they believe was blood.
Blankets and clothes covered with blood were near where police said Taylor had been with the baby in the basement.
Mother-of-four Adkins was holding the baby and had blood on her.
She told cops she'd found the baby naked on the basement floor.
Police said Taylor originally told them he did not know how the baby was injured, but later said he 'blacked out' while doing laundry with the baby.
'I've not encountered anything of this nature as long as I've been here,' Jackson County Sheriff Tony Boggs said.
Emmaleigh later died in the intensive care unit of Charleston Area Medical Centre.
Three other children were in the house at the time, according to police.
According to the , Amanda had to sign the papers to take Emmaleigh off life support.
Taylor is being held without bond at South Central Regional jail.