Lawmakers Discuss Janie DeLaPaz Act
By: Laura Kellerman
Updated: April 7, 2009
The family of Janie De La Paz is in Austin today, where there's a public hearing in Austin today to discuss proposed legislation inspired by her death.
Janie was four years old when she was killed, after three men drove by her house and fired more than 20 bullets at it.
The Janie Lynn De La Paz Act would make drive by shootings a first-degree Felony with a sentence of 5 to 99 years in prison.
"You wanna just wave a wand and say this can never happen again to these people," said Rep. Susan King, who authored the bill. "But the process isn't that way. You have to go through the steps to figure out a way to not only punish those who do this but figure out a way if you will to catch them."
The gunmen in Janie's case all pleaded guilty. Matthew Gonzales, Islam Gonzales and Javier Meza are serving prison sentences ranging from 25 to 40 years.
The alleged driver of the car, Sherry Huber, is scheduled for trial on May 11th.
Related links:
Janie was four years old when she was killed, after three men drove by her house and fired more than 20 bullets at it.
The Janie Lynn De La Paz Act would make drive by shootings a first-degree Felony with a sentence of 5 to 99 years in prison.
"You wanna just wave a wand and say this can never happen again to these people," said Rep. Susan King, who authored the bill. "But the process isn't that way. You have to go through the steps to figure out a way to not only punish those who do this but figure out a way if you will to catch them."
The gunmen in Janie's case all pleaded guilty. Matthew Gonzales, Islam Gonzales and Javier Meza are serving prison sentences ranging from 25 to 40 years.
The alleged driver of the car, Sherry Huber, is scheduled for trial on May 11th.
Related links:
