This undated photo provided by the West Virginia Regional Jail & Correctional Facility Authority shows Benjamin Taylor of Cottageville, W.V. Taylor is charged with murder in Oct. 5, 2016 death of a 9-month-old... (Associated Press) 
 
 This undated photo provided by the West Virginia Regional Jail & Correctional Facility Authority shows Benjamin Taylor of Cottageville, W.V. Taylor is charged with murder in Oct. 5, 2016 death of a 9-month-old... (Associated Press) 
 
 RIPLEY, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia man accused of sexually assaulting a 9-month-old baby is now charged with murder in the child's death. 
 
 Media outlets report 32-year-old Benjamin Taylor of Cottageville was charged with first-degree murder after the girl died of her injuries at a hospital Wednesday. Taylor is the boyfriend of the victim's mother, but isn't the child's father. 
 
 He was initially charged Monday with first-degree sexual assault. 
 
 A criminal complaint shows the baby had extensive bleeding. The complaint says the injuries indicated a violent sexual assault, as well as shaking or striking of the face. 
 
 Taylor told deputies he took the baby to the basement of an apartment while doing laundry. He said he "blacked out" and didn't know how the baby's injuries occurred. 
 
 It's unclear whether Taylor has an attorney. ||||| A petition to publicly hang Benjamin Taylor, the West Virginia man accused of brutally sexually assaulting a 10-month-old girl who died this week, was removed from the White House’s website Friday after receiving tens of thousands of signatures. 
 
 The website did not specify a reason beyond stating that the petition violated its terms of participation. It was not immediately clear when the petition was taken down, but it had received at least 50,000 signatures before being removed. 
 
 The petition on the White House’s “We the People” calling for Taylor to be publicly hanged was posted Tuesday by a person identified as “J.R.” 
 
 The petitioner wrote: “Prison is too good for child rapists and their ilk. I would move to say that our ‘justice system’ is even a part of the problem, in that incarceration is hardly justice when it comes to such an awful act … Let us hang these creatures publicly. Let us make examples of them, and allow the American people to attend these hangings so that the accused may be ridiculed.” 
 
 Had the petition received the required 100,000 signatures by Nov. 4, the White House would have had to issue a response, according to the website’s policy. 
 
 The petition was started one day after Taylor, 32, was discovered with his girlfriend’s severely injured baby in the basement of the apartment they shared. 
 
 Emmaleigh Elizabeth Barringer was naked, covered with blood and unconscious when she was found by her mother, according to the baby’s aunt. 
 
 At the time the petition was posted, Emmaleigh had already been pronounced brain dead. She died the following day from her injuries, which were described by family members as “extensive.” 
 
 Taylor was initially charged with one count of first-degree sexual assault, but a murder charge was added after the girl’s death, Jackson County Sheriff Tony Boggs told West Virginia-area television station WSAZ. 
 
 Boggs described the case as one of the worst he’s seen in his career. 
 
 “I have not and hope to never again,” he said. “I don’t know of any normal human that could fathom what would possess somebody to do that. 
 
 West Virginia abolished capital punishment decades ago, though another case spurred one state lawmaker to promise that he would introduce legislation to bring the death penalty back to the state in the next legislative session, West Virginia Metro News reported. 
 
 A vigil for Emmaleigh is scheduled for Friday night in Pasadena, Maryland, according to a GoFundMe page set up by the family to help cover funeral costs. The infant’s funeral will take place on Oct. 17. ||||| The petition you are trying to access has been removed from the site per our Moderation Policy, because it was in violation of our Terms of Participation. 
 
 While you can't sign this petition, there may be other petitions on We the People that you'd like to add your name to. Find petitions to sign now or, create your own petition. 
 
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– West Virginia hasn't executed anybody since murderer Elmer Brunner went to "Old Sparky" in 1959, but quite a few people want that to change after the horrific murder of a 9-month-old baby. Benjamin Taylor is accused of raping and killing his girlfriend's daughter, and a petition to have him publicly hanged received more than 50,000 signatures on the White House website before it was removed, KTLA reports. President Obama would have been required to respond if the petition gained more than 100,000 signatures over 30 days. West Virginia abolished the death penalty in 1965. "When it's an open and shut case such as this, let us hang these creatures publicly. Let us make examples of them, and allow the American people to attend these hangings so that the accused may be ridiculed, as they should be," read the petition, which the White House "We the People" website says was pulled for violating the "terms of participation." Taylor, 32, was charged with sexual assault Monday and a first-degree murder charge was added on Friday, the AP reports. He was arrested after Emmaleigh Barringer was found naked and covered and blood in the basement of her mother's home early Monday. She died from her injuries on Wednesday.