This is just absolutely horrifying. I hope the two men who did this… well, let’s just say that I hope they get what they deserve, which would be a punishment so horrible and terrifying that it couldn’t possibly be put into words.

On leave from the violence he had survived in the war in Iraq, a young Marine was so wary of crime on the streets of his own home town that he carried only $8 to avoid becoming a robbery target.
Despite his caution, Lance Cpl. Robert Crutchfield, 21, was shot point-blank in the neck during a robbery at a bus stop.

Feeding and breathing tubes kept him alive 41/2 months, until he died of an infection on May 18.

Two men have been charged in the attack, and Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason said Friday the case was under review to decide whether to seek the death penalty.

“It is an awful story,” said Alberta Holt, the young Marine’s aunt and his legal guardian when he was a teenager determined to flee a troubled Cleveland school for safer surroundings in the suburbs.

Crutchfield was attacked on January 5 while he and his girlfriend were waiting for a bus. He had heeded the warnings of commanders that a Marine on leave might be seen as a prime robbery target with a pocketful of money, so he only carried $8, his military ID card and a bank card.

“They took it, turned his pockets inside out, took what he had and told him since he was a Marine and didn’t have any money he didn’t deserve to live. They put the gun to his neck and shot him,” Holt told The Associated Press.

The two men charged in the attack were identified as Ean Farrow, 19, and Thomas Ray III, 20, both of Cleveland. Their attorneys did not respond to The Associated Press’ requests for comment.

There are no words to describe how absolutely awful this is. My sincerest thoughts and prayers go out to his family, and my gratitude for his service. I hope justice comes swiftly to his murderers.

Hat Tips: Wizbang and Michelle Malkin

A verdict was reached today in the trial of Michael James Jackson — he’ll be put to death. For those of you not from the North Florida area, this is incredibly good news. He was the head of a robbery-murder ring who buried an elderly couple alive two years ago:

The leader of a robbery-murder ring that buried alive a retired Jacksonville couple was sentenced to death Wednesday.

Michael James Jackson, 25 had refused to allow character testimony on his behalf when Circuit Judge Michael Weatherby was weighing the sentence this summer.

During a midday hearing Wednesday, the judge said the eight aggravating factors outlined by prosecutors — details of the crime that affect the sentence — far outweighed mitigating factors.

Prosecutors described Jackson as the mastermind of the 2005 kidnapping and murder of James and Carol Sumner, whose bodies were left in a remote area in Charlton County, Ga.

The grave where they were dumped was dug days before the couple was abducted from their St. Nicholas home, loaded into their car’s trunk and forced to reveal their bank card PIN number.

Jackson drained the couple’s bank accounts and still had their financial records when he was arrested at a South Carolina hotel.

Jackson’s defense lawyer, Richard Kuritz, said he’s filing an appeal notice today.

For those unfamiliar, Jacksonville has a very high crime rate, especially for murder, which is one of the highest in the nation (I think Detroit and D.C. are the only places that have us beat, but I could be wrong). The head of a robbery-and-murder ring being put away and eventually killed is very good news.