TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book has a filed a bill to help domestic violence victims in the state of Florida.
According to a media release, SB 610 was filed on Wednesday in response to the tragic death of Gabby Petito from domestic violence on a cross-country van trip with her boyfriend in 2021.
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Petito, 22, lived in Sarasota County.
“Domestic violence is a horrific crime hiding in plain sight, affecting 20 people in the United States every single minute of every single day – all too often, with deadly consequences. Each one of us knows victims and perpetrators of domestic violence, even if we do not realize it,” said Book.
This bill would mandate law enforcement officers to complete a lethality assessment form during domestic violence investigations.
The bill also places a mandate on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to collaborate with the Florida Sheriffs Association, Florida Police Chiefs Association, and domestic violence advocacy organizations to develop policies, procedures, and training programs for the effective implementation of lethality assessments.
According to the FDLE, there were 106,615 DV offenses reported to law enforcement in Florida in 2020. There were 198 domestic violence homicides and 19 domestic violence manslaughter offenses reported to law enforcement.
Brian Laundrie and Petito were engaged and traveled by van across the U.S. in the summer of 2021, visiting scenic places in Colorado and Utah before heading north. They documented their trip in detail, in real time, on social media.
Police in Moab, Utah, pulled over the van after it was seen speeding and hitting a curb at the entrance to Arches National Park in August 2021. Petito told police she and Laundrie had been fighting. Officers separated the couple for the night and didn’t pursue charges.
Searchers found Petito’s body Sept. 19, 2021, near a campground on the edge of Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. A coroner determined she’d been strangled a few weeks earlier.