TRAGIC EVENTS DESERVE HARSH PUNISHMENT

The recent story out of Paducah, Ky., about a 2-year-old boy starving to death because his parents didn't feed him and his two surviving but malnourished siblings is a tragic comment on the responsibilities of parenthood.

But police say that is what happened to Jeffrey Mitchell, who lived in a nice apartment in one of Paducah's better neighborhoods with his parents, Billy Gene Mitchell, 45, and his wife, Susan R. Mitchell, 37, along with siblings of 3 and 6 years of age.

The father, a retired Air Force technical sergeant, says he didn't have the money to buy food because he lost his job last year and welfare agencies wouldn't help. He said the agencies told him his pension of $1,400 a month disqualified him for food stamps and other aid, and after wage garnishments he was left with only $40 or $50 a month.

Records didn't support either of his claims, and the couple were jailed in lieu of more than $1 million apiece on charges of murder and wanton endangerment.

An investigator said he was troubled by the fact that the Mitchells appear to have been current on premiums on $60,000 life-insurance policies on each of their three children.

There is no reason that in Paducah, Ky., or anywhere in this nation children must starve to death because of the incompetency of their parents. There are numerous agencies that can and will help, and the Mitchells will be hard-pressed trying to convince a judge or jury that help was not available.

The Mitchells deserve the state's harshest punishment regardless of the reasons that brought about this child's needless death.