(Note - this video is almost a year old, but I could not find it on LL)

A judge upheld a jury's recommendation and sentenced Lam Luong to death by lethal injection for murdering his four children by throwing them off the Dauphin Island Bridge. Before the sentencing Luong turned to his wife Kieu and said he was sorry.

It was the first time we have seen any emotion from Luong for what he did. Judge Charles Graddick said there is only one penalty for a crime this heinous and cruel. Graddick said the final moments of the four children's lives were sheer terror, filled with extreme fear and pain.
Especially for three-year-old Ryan who the state believes knew what was going on around him.

Lam Luong stood before Judge Charles Graddick, to learn his fate. It's been more than a month since a jury found him guilty of killing his four children and recommended the death penalty.

On Thursday, Judge Graddick upheld that recommendation, but he took it a step further. During sentencing he ordered that Luong must be shown pictures of his children every day for the rest of his life.

"Make him think a little bit, suffer a little bit. Right now, I'm sure he's got lots of friends waiting on him over at Atmore," said Kam Phengsisboum, the children's uncle.

District Attorney John Tyson, Jr. said this is the ultimate case of domestic violence. The state proved Luong threw his children one by one off the bridge to get back at his wife.

Tyson was surprised by the Judge's orders to show Luong pictures of the children, those pictures include ones taken before and after the murder. For four-month-old Danny, those are his only pictures.

"I had not anticipated that, but the court was so moved by the facts of this case and those pictures are now the law in this case," said Tyson.

Immediately following sentencing, Luong was taken away by the Department of Corrections, and taken to Holman Prison in Atmore.

On the day her husband was sentenced to die for killing their children, in what the court calls one of the most heinous crimes ever, the young mother visited the graves of her children.

Judge Graddick also ordered Luong to pay $50 million in restitution, that would assure that if he sold his story, he wouldn't see a penny of it. It would all go to his wife, Kieu Phan.

One juror who wanted to see if Judge Graddick upheld their recommendation was in court Thursday. She was happy to put his case behind her, but will never forget the children, or their mother Kieu.