SALT LAKE CITY — The families of two high-profile murder victims were in the Utah State Senate to push for passage of a major domestic violence prevention bill that they believe could save lives.
"Every state needs to do this and we will fight and go wherever we can to keep helping get this bill passed," said Nicole Schmidt, the mother of Gabby Petito, who was killed by her boyfriend in 2021.
Senate Bill 117 passed unanimously on Monday and now heads to the House of Representatives. The bill requires all of the state's police agencies conduct what's called lethality assessments when responding to a call of domestic violence. In those assessments, officers ask a series of questions about fear of violence or past threats.
"I know in Gabby’s case, had this been used, I believe she’d still be here today," Schmidt told reporters after the vote.
Petito's body was found in Wyoming after she was killed by her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie. The two had interacted with Moab police officers weeks earlier when a witness said they saw a man, identified as Laundrie, hitting a woman.
Currently, only half of all Utah police agencies conduct lethality assessments. The bill would make all police agencies in Utah do it.
"That’s great," said Gabby's father, Joe Petito. "My hope is that they ask it in the way that they’re properly trained to do so."
The bill would also create a database where domestic violence calls would be tracked and accessible to all law enforcement agencies, so officers know if they are responding to a home with prior family disturbances.
Petito's parents joined the parents of Mandy Mayne, who was shot by her ex-husband last August in a Taylorsville murder-suicide, to watch the vote. Kent Mayne said he believed the legislation would have helped protect his daughter.
"She was afraid of her abuser and she was worried something might happen but I don’t think she understand completely the threat she was under," he told FOX 13 News on Monday.
The bill's passage was celebrated by victim advocates who have long pushed for changes to Utah laws to help prevent intimate partner homicide.
"It’s one of those days you hope are going to happen," said Jennifer Campbell, the director of the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition.
Beyond the bill, Campbell was hopeful for a $50 million funding request to expand victim services across the state.
"Included in these funds are helping children victims of violence, it’s helping sexual assault victims and it’s helping domestic violence victims," she said. "Frankly, for $50 million to help that scope is actually a really great impact we’re going to see of those dollars."
- Utah Domestic Violence Coalition:
- Hotline: 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
- Online help: udvc.org
- National Domestic Violence Hotline
- 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
- Online live chat: thehotline.org
- If you or someone else is in immediate danger, or in an emergency, call 9-1-1 immediately.
