‘The system failed her’: Petition to create Alina’s Law in order to protect victims of domestic violence
District Attorney Stephen Zappala supports the additions proposed
Earlier this month, Alina Sheykhet, a 20-year-old Pitt student was tragically murdered by her ex-boyfriend and abuser. 19 days before the night of her death, she had filed for a Protection from Abuse Order, however, the order for protection was not enough to save her life.
Rachel Byrge has started a petition to strengthen the laws around PFA's. Rachel has been active in trying to raise awareness for domestic violence after Alina's death, and has even helped raise money for her family by selling t-shirts.
"A piece of paper won’t stop someone willing to hurt another person and more procautions need to be taken," Byrge told The Tab. According to Rachel, it is imperative that the entire state, along with friends and family of Alina work together to bring about change and pass Alina's Law.
According to the petition, District Attorney Stephen Zappala supports strengthening the laws surrounding PFA's and domestic violence. It goes on to say DA Zappala believes had laws been set in place, they could have helped save Alina’s life.
Some proposed additions to the law include "allowing judges to require defendants in PFA orders to wear electronic monitoring devices if they present a risk of violating the PFA."
The petition allows people to share their reasons for signing. "The system failed her," one person wrote.
Other supporters signed to try and stop the same thing from happening to other young men and women. "I'm signing this in hopes that someone else's daughter never has to endure what Alina did," said Tracey Clontz.
So far the petition has been signed over 900 times. Its current goal is to reach 1,000.
You can sign the petition here.