PETITION DEMAND:

We call on Colorado lawmakers to pass Kathy’s Law, creating mandatory investigative safeguards for suspicious deaths involving a history of domestic violence.

PETITION STORY:

My sister Kathy was the heart and soul of our family. On January 1, 2026, we lost her under tragic and suspicious circumstances.

Her death was dispatched as a suicide. That assumption shaped the police response before a meaningful investigation had taken place.

Kathy had an extensively documented history of domestic violence, including multiple incidents of nonfatal strangulation, one of the strongest known indicators of future intimate partner homicide.

Kathy’s death aligns with all 10 factors of a suspicious death in a domestic violence relationship identified by Alliance for HOPE International.

A scene that appears to be a suicide or accident should not end an investigation when there is a documented history of abuse. Those circumstances should demand greater scrutiny, not less, especially when family members at the scene immediately raise concerns that the death may be a homicide.

Colorado recently passed the Colorado Mandatory Lethality Assessment Act, an important step toward identifying and protecting high-risk victims. But Colorado still lacks a statewide protocol for investigating suspicious deaths when the person who died had a documented history of domestic violence.

At the state level, Colorado law does not currently require homicide detectives to receive specialized domestic violence training. It also does not require a representative from the district attorney’s office to respond when a death is dispatched as a suicide. Without those safeguards, an early assumption can shape every decision that follows.

Kathy’s Law should build on that progress and bring protections modeled after California’s Joanna’s Law to Colorado by requiring:

• A standardized suspicious-death protocol when domestic violence indicators are present;

• Mandatory specialized training in domestic violence, coercive control, strangulation, and staged crime scenes for homicide investigators assigned to these cases;

• Interviews with family members and documented consideration of recognized suspicious-death indicators before a death is classified as a suicide or accident; and

• A meaningful process through which families can request that local law enforcement consult qualified independent experts before an investigation is closed or final conclusions are reached.

While we pursue this legislation, we are also asking CSPD to consult with Alliance for HOPE, drawing on its outside expertise as the investigation continues.

Passing Kathy’s Law cannot bring my sister back. But it can ensure that when someone dies under suspicious circumstances after enduring well-documented domestic violence, their case is investigated, not dismissed, and no family has to fight this hard just to have their loved one’s death taken seriously.

Please sign to help us seek #JusticeForKathy and bring better DV legislation to Colorado.