Rep. Nick Wilson, R-Williamsburg, presents House Bill 249, or Kimber’s Law, on the House floor.
(LRC PUBLIC INFORMATION)
FRANKFORT — A bill to strengthen the penalties for individuals who murder children advanced off the House floor on Friday.
House Bill 249, or Kimber’s Law, would make the intentional killing of a child under the age of 12 an aggravating circumstance, said the bill’s primary sponsor Rep. Nick Wilson, R-Williamsburg. The bill is named after 3-year-old Kentuckian Kimber Collins, who was beaten to death in 2019.
“I wouldn’t stand here today presenting this bill if there wasn’t a reason to do so, and that reason why is Kimber Collins,” Wilson said.
With the way the law is currently written, the man who killed Kimber was not eligible to be sentenced to life without parole in Kentucky, Wilson said. Instead, the man received a 45-year sentence and will be eligible for parole after 20 years.
“I think that’s a disservice to the most vulnerable victims in our Commonwealth,” Wilson added.
Under Kentucky law, the penalty for a class A felony is 20 to 50 years or life with the possibility of parole after 20 years, unless a person guilty of a class A felony has an aggravating circumstance, Wilson said.
There are currently eight crimes in Kentucky that constitute as an aggravating circumstance, including having a prior murder conviction and committing a murder during a robbery, rape or arson. A person who is convicted of a class A felony with an aggravating circumstance could face life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.
When it comes to the death penalty, Wilson said he found only three people have been executed in Kentucky since 1960 with the most recent case being in 2008.
“I want everyone to keep in mind that this (bill) is not necessarily a vote of approval or disapproval of the death penalty,” Wilson said. “It is more nuanced than that.”
Rep. Lindsey Burke, D-Lexington, said a few members of the House Judiciary Committee had an issue with the death penalty being an option in the bill and suggested changes. Wilson said he did not change the language in the bill because other lawmakers said they prefer the original language.
In explaining her “yes” vote, Rep. Stephanie Dietz, R-Edgewood, said she was one of the House Judiciary Committee members who had concerns.
“I would have been in favor of the other language, but today I’m a ‘yes’ so that we can protect our children,” Dietz said, adding she is also against the death penalty.
Rep. Patrick Flannery, R-Olive Hill, spoke on the House floor in favor of HB 249. He said while he struggles with the topic of the death penalty, he believes the bill is not about that.
“I think it’s really important to amplify that this bill is really not about the death penalty,” Flannery said. “It is a parole issue.”
The House approved HB 249 by an 85-6 vote. It will now go before the Senate for consideration.
