A bipartisan group of North Carolina lawmakers is proposing an array of laws aimed at deterring gang recruitment and keeping firearms out of the hands of gang members, among other anti-gang changes.
It’s an effort to give prosecutors and law enforcement stronger tools to investigate, prosecute and deter gang activity across the state, lawmakers say.
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Bill sponsors call the effort “Jaleeyah’s Law.” House Bill 1173 is named for Jaleeyah Tune, a 13-year-old Goldsboro girl who, according to police, was fatally shot in the head in December. Tune was a seventh grader at Wayne Academy.
Two teenagers — Jy'Aere Smith and Josh Jordan — face murder charges in the case. They are being charged as adults. Police didn’t provide information in court documents on what led to the shooting. Lawmakers say it was an act of gang violence.
Lawyers for Smith and Jordan didn’t respond to requests for comment.
“Our community was absolutely rocked that day in December. We are shocked with how this could’ve happened,” Rep. John Bell, R-Wayne, said Friday during a Goldsboro City Hall news conference promoting the proposal. “But we’re here today because a mother said, ‘I lost my daughter, and we’re not going to lose another one.’”
The bill seeks to lower the threshold for what constitutes a criminal gang leader or organizer, making it easier for suspected gang leaders to face charges. It would also tighten laws intended to prevent the recruitment of minors into gangs and increase penalties for offenders. And it would make gun possession illegal for anyone who has been identified in court as a gang member, among other proposed reforms.
“It’s about giving prosecutors and communities stronger tools,” Whitney Brown-Tune, Jaleeyah’s mother, said at the event. “It’s about prevention, accountability and protection before tragedy happens. This bill is not just paper to me. This is my child. It’s my pain, my fight, my purpose.”
Jayleeyah’s aunt, Shalanda Tune, added: “My baby will never grow up, get married; no one should have to bury their baby.”
Brown-Tune said she wants the proposal to move beyond introduction and gain momentum in the legislature.
The bill is scheduled to go before a House judiciary committee for discussion on Tuesday.
Bill co-sponsor Sarah Stevens, R-Surry, said: “We will move it through as quickly as we can.”
The bill would need approval from both chambers of the Republican-controlled legislature before it can be considered by Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. The bill includes several Democratic co-sponsors, including Reps. Kanika Brown, D-Forsyth; Mike Colvin, D-Cumberland; Carolyn Logan, D-Mecklenburg; Rodney Pierce; and D-Halifax.
“No one should have to suffer the tragedy that Jaleeyah Tune’s family endured,” a spokesperson for Stein said in a statement Friday, noting that the governor established the North Carolina Gang Prevention and Intervention Task Force last year and recently met with the Tune family and Bell during a task force meeting.
“Gov. Stein appreciates Rep. Bell’s partnership in addressing violence among our youth and is eager to work with the General Assembly to make North Carolina safer,” the spokesperson said. “Our office is reviewing the bill.”