A judicial system that failed a young girl, my friend, Gracie Sasso. On May 7, 2023, Gracie was sadly murdered at the age of 15 by a man who had a history of heinous criminal records. The killer, Timothy Doll, 29 at that time, now 31, had a notorious background - sexual assault, child pornography (some of the kids being under 5 years old), domestic violence, and drug charges. Deceiving Gracie with a false identity (Terrance) and age (18), he eventually ended her life over a mere disagreement - a life, trashily discarded into a dumpster after smothering her with a pillow.

Despite an odious rap sheet, he had previously only received lenient sentencing and house arrest. It's depressingly clear that the current judicial system failed to protect Gracie. This sad outcome begs the question - how many more Gracies does the world have to mourn before the laws change?

As such, this petition seeks to institute Gracie Sasso's Law, a law that mandates lifetime sentences for individuals convicted of rape, attempted rape, and sexual battery. It is a matter of public safety and justice for the victims. To that end, the US Department of Justice has established that sexual assaults are severely underreported, with less than 23% of all such incidents being forwarded to law enforcement (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2019). This calls for stiffer penalties to deter potential perpetrators and instill confidence in victims that justice will be served.

Our plea is direct - we need your support, keen on the call of change that Gracie's tragic story has invoked. Sign this petition. Advocate for Gracie Sasso's Law. Let's make the world a safer place, and ensure that no one else has to suffer a fate similar to Gracie's. 

My story with Gracie: 

In 5th grade I had just moved back to Illinois, I didn’t know many people and was nervous talking to people but a sweet girl named Gracie Sasso and a boy named Sparrow came up to me and started talking to me. We hit it off immediately and always played and worked in groups together. We had many hangouts and sleepovers where we would laugh the whole time messing around. Me and Sparrow had a nickname for Gracie, Grapie. Me and Sparrow had the same birthday so we thought we were twins separated at birth. Eventually, Covid happened and I got a new phone with a new Apple ID and lost contact with them for awhile until I went to high school with Gracie. Even though me and Gracie didn’t have any classes together we would skip classes together to hangout. We had deep conversations and funny conversations, I could talk to her about anything. She was the most sweetest and understanding person I knew, she wouldn’t turn her back on anyone. When I heard Gracie was reported missing I didn’t think anything of it, she sometimes needed a break from everyone or she was having issues with her mother. I was at my dads when I heard about it so I couldn’t join the search party but my mom did. When I got home my mom told me to sit down and she told me they found her in a dumpster. I asked if she was ok, I thought maybe she was hiding. She wasn’t. I didn’t cry. I didn’t believe it. The next day I was sitting in my 1st period algebra class thinking about Gracie, I suddenly felt sick I asked my teacher to go to the bathroom but he said we were past the 10 minute mark (we could leave class the first and last 10 minutes of class) I guess I looked sick because he handed me a pass. As soon as I got up I started gagging, I ran to the bathroom as fast as I could to throw up. When I was done I rinsed my mouth off and headed back to class. Next period I had gym classes I headed to the bathroom to meet my friends and they were crying, I comforted them since I wasn’t crying, I still didn’t believe it. Eventually a gym teacher heard us talking and walked in asking us why we were in there since I was the only one not crying I started to explain it to her. I got about 5 seconds in to explaining it till I started crying and shaking, the teacher hugged me, my friends hugged me, and even some girls I didn’t know hugged me. It was the first time saying it out loud that she was dead. I don’t remember the rest of the day, all I thought about was Gracie. It’s still hard to admit she’s gone, I’ve only gone to her grave a few times and barley talk about her since it makes it all too real, I don’t want her to be gone. 

Gracie’s past: 

Although some may say Erika Sasso, Gracie’s biological mother, was a good person, she wasn’t. “From what I know she made sure Gracie had food and a roof over her head” “she’s still her mother” “she wasn’t the one that killed her”. That doesn’t mean she’s a good mother. Erika has multiple drug charges against her. From a young age Erika would often drop Gracie off at Gracie’s friends houses, Erika’s friends houses, and sometimes even some people’s houses Erika didn’t know well and Gracie didn’t even know at all. When I met Gracie Erika had dropped her off for a sleepover with Sparrow and didn’t come back until 2 years later, and when she did Erika dropped Gracie off at her apartment to pack up and didn’t come back for a week leaving Gracie all alone. Erika would barely do the bare minimum for her daughter, but Gracie still loved her cause that’s who Gracie was, a caring person. Erika had been seen dropping Gracie off at “Terraces” house multiple times for long periods at a time most often to go out on a drug run, without barely knowing the man she was leaving her daughter with. She suffered through a lot in her life, but she still managed to love everyone, especially animals.