Haley Randich ’14
Staff Writer

Steve Hayes, a man indicted for the brutal murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley and Michaela, has been on trial for the past three weeks.  His crimes qualify him for the death penalty, causing Connecticut residents, once again, to begin arguing over our state’s laws, which currently allow for execution by lethal injection.

While politicians and residents argue over Connecticut’s death penalty tolerance, Staples Students have their own opinions on the Hayes trial and the controversial capital punishment law.

When asked, most Staples students had similar views on the death penalty: It is sometimes necessary, and in the case of Steve Hayes, is definitely necessary.

“I think it is a fair penalty,” said Jordan Kranz ’12, when asked for his opinion on the Hayes trial.

“He deserves the same punishment he gave those people,” said Maddy Rozynek ’14.

Other students thought that the death penalty was a necessary retribution for murderers.

“If you do not eliminate a serial killer, they will keep on killing,” said Olivia Sosnoski ’14.

A few students who were asked had different ideas on the fate of Steve Hayes. Some seemed to think that lethal injection was too little of a punishment for the man who killed a mother and her two daughters.

Rachel Goldstein ‘14 suggested that life in prison might be a more painful alternative to the death penalty. “They should have to feel the pain the victim’s family felt,” she explained.

Steve Hayes still sits in the New Haven courthouse, as attorneys argue over his fate, and relatives of the victims testify, awaiting the final word. Connecticut residents debate the death penalty, but most Staples students seem to think that Steve Hayes should receive capital punishment for killing an innocent woman and her two young daughters.