That the murder of a child is not new adds to the horror

We have seen it too many times before — far too many.

An innocent child loses his or her life to trigger-happy criminals who have no respect for the rights — or lives — of others.

Armed with weapons designed for the battlefield, they turn a front porch or a child’s bedroom or a passing car into a crime scene. The crime, quite clearly, is aggravated murder. And the penalty under the law for aggravated murder with specifications is, quite properly, the death penalty.

Mahoning County courts have recognized that in the past, finding not only the triggerman culpable, but also any accomplices.

Certainly prosecutors face a challenge when pursuing any capital case. But the crime requires whatever effort is necessary to achieve conviction on the maximum charge allowed by law.

Spraying an occupied dwelling with high-powered gunfire can only be done with an intent to kill. That the slugs penetrated the walls of the “wrong” house and took the “wrong” victim is no defense.

Nothing the law can do will restore Bryce Linebaugh to life. Nothing will assuage the pain of his mother, or erase what happened early Monday morning from the memories of his siblings. His playmates will have memories of past happier days, but no future boyhood adventures to contemplate.

But beyond the incalculable loss to immediate family and friends, the death of Bryce Linebaugh is an attack on the community.

It should not be this way

People should not live in fear of their children being murdered in their beds. People should not feel a need to pull their children from a day care center because it is in a neighborhood now deemed too dangerous.

Youngstown police, federal agents and the State Highway Patrol have cooperated in crackdowns aimed at removing drugs and guns from the street. Obviously, more needs to be done. Youngstown Police chief Rod Foley says assault weapons such as that used in the murder of Bryce are a status symbol. In any civilian context, that is a chilling description for a military weapon. But some people battle such personal insecurities that they will desperately seek “status” wherever they can find it.

The story behind the Monday morning shooting is still being pieced together. And today’s “person of interest” is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

But whatever nuances may shade the story of the shooter, the bottom line will be that he had no legitimate purpose to be roaming the city with an assault weapon, and the only status he will have to call his own is that of a murderer. And for that, if the system works, he will be justly punished.

But unless the community views this as the horrendous assault that it is and demands safer streets, it will only be a matter of time before another child is robbed of his or her youth and another family is engulfed in unspeakable pain.