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<p>Eric Frein, convicted of killing one state trooper and seriously injuring another, is hardly a sympathetic figure.</p><p>But some area residents were unsure about a jury&#8217;s decision this week to sentence Frein to death.</p><p>Ciera Gensel believes Frein should be spared.</p><p>&#8220;Everyone should be treated equally no matter what your occupation is. A murder is a murder,&#8221; said Gensel, of Sugar Notch. She argued that someone who is not a police officer &#8220;can be walking down the street completely unarmed and be shot and killed, but the person who killed them wouldn&#8217;t receive the death penalty.&#8221;</p><p>Tyrone Bensi, of Sherman Street, agrees with Gensel.</p><p>&#8220;Humans are human. What he did was wrong, but he&#8217;s going to suffer enough in prison,&#8221; Bensi said.</p><p>Bensi was talking to Samantha Langley, of Coal Street, about the decision at Coal Street Park in Wilkes-Barre yesterday. Langley, a mother a two toddler boys, feels bad for Frein&#8217;s mother, but her heart is with the widow of Cpl. Bryon Dickson II.</p><p>&#8220;Death penalty? Absolutely,&#8221; said Langley. &#8220;Justice is served for the families of the officers.&#8221;</p><p>Latoya Bernard, of Carbon Lane, said the death penalty should be reserved for the &#8220;worst of the worst.&#8221; And she believes Frein is just that.</p><p>&#8220;There should be no appeals, no question, no hesitation,&#8221; Bernard said.</p><p>Gov. Tom Wolf has placed a statewide moratorium on executions. On Wednesday in Pittston, Wolf called Frein&#8217;s crime &#8220;heinous&#8221; but said he was waiting for a report from a bi-partisan commission to decide if he would grant a stay to Frein.</p><p>&#8220;We have to make sure that the punishment is there for people who commit crimes like this,&#8221; said Wolf. &#8220;I want to make sure that any punishment that we administer as a state is fair and appropriate to the crime.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Eric Frein is led from the Pike County Courthouse on Oct. 31, 2014, after his arraignment on charges of killing a state trooper and terrorism. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Frein, who they said targeted state police because he was trying to foment an uprising against the government. Frein’s lawyers want the jury to sentence him to life without parole.  (Melissa Evanko | Pocono Record)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Frein_perp_walk_from_arraignment_WEB-6.jpg</photo0><caption0>Eric Frein is led from the Pike County Courthouse on Oct. 31, 2014, after his arraignment on charges of killing a state trooper and terrorism. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Frein, who they said targeted state police because he was trying to foment an uprising against the government. Frein’s lawyers want the jury to sentence him to life without parole.  (Melissa Evanko | Pocono Record)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Melanie Mizenko</p><p>mmizenko@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Melanie Mizenko at 570-991-6116 or on Twitter @TL_MMizenko</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne County residents react to Eric Frein being sentenced to death