Categories: Pennsylvania News

‘Jessica’s Law’ aims to expand charges that qualify for death penalty in Pennsylvania

PENNSYLVANIA (WTAJ) — A Pennsylvania Representative announced plans for legislation that would expand the charges that qualify a defendant for the death penalty.

The legislation, introduced by Rep. Zachary Mako (R-Lehigh/Northampton), was named “Jessica’s Law,” after Jessica Padgett, who was shot in the back of her head by her step-father, Gregory Graf in 2014. He then sexually abused her corpse while using two video cameras to record his actions, according to the bill.

Graf was sentenced to the maximum punishment under Pennsylvania law, life in prison without the possibility of parole. In order to pursue the death penalty, prosecutors would have needed to find an “aggravating factor” in addition to the murder itself. Now, Graf resides in the state prison in Fayette County.

Get the latest Pennsylvania politics and election news with abc27 newsletters!

Mako’s legislation would amend the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes to include the desecration or mutilation of a corpse as an aggravating circumstance that, in turn, may qualify a defendant for the death penalty in the Commonwealth.

rssfeeds-admin

Share
Published by
rssfeeds-admin

Recent Posts

Everything You Need to Know About the New Star Wars Content in Fortnite

Star Wars Day is nearly here, and to mark the May 4th celebration, Fortnite, Disney…

38 minutes ago

FFXIV Director Explains Plans to Sunset PS4 Version, Estimated to Last Through Patch 8.3

As part of a wide-ranging keynote presentation at Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest, Director and…

38 minutes ago

Today’s Top Deals: Shout! Factory Blu-ray Steelbook, Razer BlackWidow Keyboard, and MTG Strixhaven

If you’re looking to add to your physical media collection, Shout! Factory has a bunch…

39 minutes ago

The Massive 77″ Panasonic Z85 4K OLED TV with Amazon Fire TV Drops to $1,299.99

Here's a rare chance to pick up a massive, current generation OLED TV at a…

2 hours ago

The Wolfbox 4-in-1 Cordless Car Jump Starter, Tire Inflator, Power Bank, and Flashlight Drops to Just $59.99

Consolidate your car's emergency kit with this automotive 4-in-1 swiss army knife. For a limited…

2 hours ago

Google Gemini CLI Flaw Enables Command Execution on Hosts systems

A maximum-severity remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability in Google Gemini CLI has been disclosed by…

2 hours ago

This website uses cookies.