Death Penalty a Possibility in Kami Ring Murder Trial

Before Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's death penalty repeal takes effect in October, the Cecil County State's Attorney's Office may propose the sentence in a trial against Richard Madden of Port Deposit.

Madden, 29, is charged in the rape and murder of 10-year-old Kami Ring, a Charlestown girl he considered his niece.

“If ever there was a case that qualified for the death penalty, this is it," Cecil County State's Attorney Ellis Rollins III told CecilDaily.com.

Ring was reported missing on a Monday morning and found that evening, partially naked and face-down in a field, police said. Within days, Madden was charged with first-degree rape, first- and second-degree murder and first-degree assault.

Maryland State Police said that biological evidence linked Madden to the crime scene where Ring's body was found, 60 yards from the home where the two were staying with a pair she thought of as her grandparents.

An Easton resident wrote a letter to The Baltimore Sun this week that the case proved Maryland's repeal of the death penalty was erroneous.

"The worst punishment in the great state of Maryland this animal can receive is life without parole," Brian Spector of Easton wrote in reference to Madden. "If [he is] convicted, we taxpayers get to provide his room, board and medical care for the rest of his life (maybe the next 40 or 60 years)."

Last month, when the death penalty repeal was signed into law, the office of the Maryland governor stated that the death penalty costs three times as much as life without parole, according to CNN. 

If he chooses to request the death penalty, Cecil County State's Attorney Rollins told CecilDaily.com he may seek counsel from the Maryland State's Attorney Association.

Madden has a motions hearing scheduled for July 12 in Cecil County Circuit Court.