Petition to the Indiana General Assembly: Support Josiah’s Law

We, the undersigned residents of Indiana, call upon our state legislators to support and pass Josiah’s Law—a bill designed to close dangerous gaps in our criminal justice system that allow individuals arrested for violent weapon offenses to avoid prosecution due to procedural delays.

Josiah’s Law is named in honor of Josiah, a 12-year-old boy whose life was stolen by someone who should have never been free. The man who murdered Josiah had previously been arrested for possession of a machine gun. That case was dismissed due to delayed DNA evidence and never refiled. This prosecutorial failure allowed a dangerous individual to remain free, and it cost Josiah his life.

This is personal. Josiah was my first-born nephew on my mother’s side—my baby sister’s first child and only son. We shared the month of October for our birthdays, just four days apart: Josiah on October 20th, and me on October 24th. We had a strong, unbreakable bond, and he knew he held a very special place in my heart.

Josiah was murdered on October 27, 2023—his baby sister Emeryss’s 2nd birthday—just seven days after he turned 12. The identities of those involved were revealed to us on my sister’s 30th birthday, November 6th. Josiah was laid to rest three days later, on November 9th. He was just a child with many dreams that we’ll never see come true. Josiah was everything to us, and our lives will never be the same without him.

Why this matters:

In 2023, Indiana reported 1,258 gun deaths, including 436 homicides and 81 children under 18 lost to gun violence (CDC data via Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions).
Machine guns and automatic weapons are federally restricted, yet arrests for their possession are rising in urban areas.
Prosecutorial discretion and delays in evidence processing often result in dismissed charges that are never refiled, leaving communities vulnerable.
We demand:

Mandatory review and refiling of dismissed violent weapon charges when new evidence becomes available
Stronger pretrial detention standards for individuals arrested with deadly weapons
Prosecutorial accountability and transparency in decisions not to refile serious charges
Our communities deserve justice, safety, and a system that values life over loopholes. We urge the Indiana General Assembly to act now.

Sign below to support Josiah’s Law.

Category Tags:

Gun Violence Prevention
Criminal Justice Reform
Community Safety
Legislative Advocacy
Victim Rights
Indiana Legislation
Public Safety
Youth Protection
Decision Maker:

Indiana General Assembly
State Prosecutors
Indiana Attorney General
Local Law Enforcement Agencies
Indiana Governor