On February 22, 21-year-old Jared Smith-Bracy was charged with murdering his grandparents, 80-year-old Leonard Smith and 72-year-old Barbara Smith; his brother, 27-year-old Jeremy Smith; and 71-year-old family friend Shelia Glover in Daphne. Tragically, Smith-Bracy had been arrested earlier after an altercation at the home. He was released.
On Thursday, State Representative Matt Simpson explained to the Alabama House of Representatives that if similar events had occurred with parents or a girlfriend, Smith-Bracy would likely have been charged with domestic violence rather than assault and would have been held overnight for a cooling-off period – rather than immediately getting out and returning to the home for his murderous rampage.
House Bill 76 (HB76) was introduced by Simpson in response to this incident and the apparent oversight in Alabama law.
“The bill originally just dealt with grandparents,” Simpson said. “After working in the committee, we included step-grandparents and grandchildren.”
The committee changes were made in a committee amendment to HB76.
The House voted 105 to 0 to adopt the committee amendment.
Simpson explained that the legislation includes a “no contact provision to keep him from going to that home.”
Rep. Arnold Mooney said, “We just had two sheriff’s deputies shot coming into his parents’ home. He was abusive to his parents. Thank you for bringing this bill
Rep. Chris England said, “Over the years, in domestic violence situations, you can make warrantless arrests. They do not necessarily have to see the incident.”
“The bill makes sense,” England continued. “This is one of those bills that could prevent a very tragic incident from happening. I applaud you for bringing it.”
Simpson is a former prosecutor.
According to the synopsis, “Under existing law, a person commits the crime of domestic violence if the victim is a current or former spouse, parent, step-parent, child, step-child, any person with whom the defendant has a child in common, a present household member, or a person who has or had a dating relationship with the defendant. This bill would provide that a grandparent may be a victim of domestic violence.”
The committee amendment added step-grandparents and grandchildren.
HB76 passed the House of Representatives in a 105 to 0 vote. It now goes to the Senate for their consideration. The bill has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Jared Smith-Bracy has been charged with five counts of capital murder and could potentially face the death penalty.
Tuesday will be day 16 of the 2023 Alabama Regular Legislative Session. The regular session is limited by the Alabama Constitution of 1901 to no more than thirty legislative days during a regular session. The House will convene at 1:00 p.m. and the Senate at 2:30 p.m.
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