In 2007, Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsy committed a violent crime in Connecticut. These two men killed a mother and her two children. Ms Hawke-Petit, the mother, was raped and strangled to death by Mr Hayes and Mr Komisarjevsy. The two men also detained and raped her two young daughters. The daughters were raped and then killed by smoke inhalation when Mr Hayes and Mr Komisarjevsy set fire to the family's home. While the assault on his family was underway, Dr. William Petit was beaten and restrained by the two men. The state of Connecticut filed numerous charges against the pair of criminals. Mr Hayes was convicted of raping and strangling Ms Hawke-Petit and killing her daughters, who died from smoke inhalation. Mr. Komisarjevsy was held accountable for his crimes against the Petit family in a separate trial. He was convicted of the murders and a string of other crimes, including sexually assaulting the 11-year-old girl and taking indecent photos of her on his mobile phone. Although the two men faced two trials and different juries, both men were sentenced to death. Komisarjevsy's lawyers were adamant about changing his sentence because of his past. According to Komisarjevsy, he was sexually abused as a child, suffered from mood disorders and head injuries. He also abused drugs and self-harmed. He also claimed that his evangelical Christian adoptive parents denied him proper care, instead relying on religion (Glaberson, 2011). Komisarjevsy's lawyer tried to use this situation to his advantage and developed a defense based on the fact that he was a damaged person, worthy of life (Glaberson, 2011). This defense successfully changed the jury's opinion, because Joshua Komisarjevsy was sentenced to life imprisonment, as... half of the document......including children who had not yet had the chance to live their life the most complete. I truly believe that Joshua Komisarjevsy should have been sentenced to death just like his accomplice Steven Hayes. These men took three innocent lives and ruined a third. They had no reason to take the lives of these innocent people. They should really pay for this senseless crime and not end up in prison for the rest of their lives. Being in prison is not punishment enough for these two men. Letting these two hardened criminals sit comfortably in prison for the rest of their lives is a reward for them. I sincerely believe that these two men deserve to die for unforgivable crimes. Reference Hickey, E. W. (2013). Serial Murderers and Their Victims (6th ed.). Belmont, California, United States: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.