SALT LAKE CITY — Candice Cooley’s son Dylan Rounds first went missing in May of 2022. Almost a year later, a squatter named James Brenner, who lived near Rounds’ property, was charged with murder. But Rounds’s body was never found.
“You look at my son Dylan, we're at the mercy of Brenner,” said Cooley. “We are at the mercy of James Brenner. He has all the rights, he's protected. Our whole case has been put on the back burner because of what James Brenner is entitled to.”
The Crime Victim Amendments bill, which passed in Utah’s House of Representatives Tuesday, would create victims' rights committees in each judicial district of the state and would create a process for submitting a complaint alleging a violation of a victim’s right.
“We found out that we had nowhere to go, and as much as Box Elder mishandled this case, it was 100 percent up to them if they were going to relinquish it or even accept help,” said Cooley. “They shouldn't be able to disregard outside agencies helping.”
This bill would help families like Cooley’s get the justice they need, she said.
“What I would like to know is, what is Dylan entitled to? Why is Dylan entitled to nothing? He did nothing wrong,” she said. “And I think this bill is going to be the start of it all.”
The bill goes for a vote in the Senate next.
