27yo Man Beats 2yo Boy To Death

I read this story yesterday in the newspaper and found it extremely disturbing.

Sergio Casian Aguilar, 27, parked his truck on an unlit road Saturday night, removed a 2-year-old boy from his car seat and proceeded to stomp, kick and punch the boy to death, authorities said. The boy was unrecognizable when he was pronounced dead at Emanuel Medical Center, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department said.

[...]

Several motorists called 911 and tried to stop the beating, authorities said.

Dan Robinson, a local volunteer fire department chief, told The Modesto Bee that at first glance, he thought the child was a dead animal in the road. He said when he realized it was a child, he tried to stop Aguilar.

[...]

Responding to 911 calls, a Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department helicopter landed in a dairy pasture near the scene. A Modesto police officer, Jerry Ramar, fatally shot Aguilar after he failed to heed the officer's warning to stop beating the child, authorities said. Aguilar flashed his middle finger at Ramar before Ramar shot him in the forehead, police said.

I find it interesting that "several motorists...tried to stop the beating". I wonder what these people actually did. Did they say, "Oh, please stop"? The man was not armed, so the risk of death was extremely low. If I had happened to see this, I would've said, "stop" only once, after that, he would be choking on a tire iron.

One last note, Excellent shot Officer Ramar. Unfortunately; I believe your problems are just beginning. Not only do you have to live with killing someone, but you may likely face disciplinary action by the PD for shooting an unarmed man (who absolutely deserved it). Then, of course, you may face a wrongful death lawsuit from the family.

It's a wonderful world we live in.

 

***UPDATE 12:40PM 06/20/08***

Emperor Misha wrote an excellent post that was nearly identical to what I was thinking, but didn't write.