BRISTOL, Tenn. — The October shooting deaths of a Bristol mother and her teenage daughter may lead to changes in Tennessee law. Police say they were the victims of an estranged husband who also killed himself.
Since the killings of Kristina and Gabby Kennedy, the community has banded together with a larger mission of preventing domestic violence.
The most recent effort is what's called "The Gabby Act." An organization called The Gabby Foundation introduced it to local legislators.
"Why is it so significant?," News 5 asked Trevor Lee of The Gabby Foundation. "Seeing what my classmate, Gabby, and then her mother went through and talking to her family and closest friends of hers, we just feel like there's no way we can move on and not change something."
"The Gabby Act" proposes a domestic violence and child abuse task force through the TBI. It would work to advocate for victims through increased transparency, as well as increased check-ins from state or local law enforcement.
State Rep. John Crawford (R-Sullivan County) filed the "The Gabby Act" in the Tennessee house.
"It does need a little work to make it more viable. It's got a huge fiscal note if we were to apply it as it is now. And we want to make sure that all the constitutional issues are met," said Crawford.
It may not pass this year, but Crawford tells News 5 he wants it to stay a priority.
"I wanted of the keep in front of me and work on it. It's just not ready at this point. But we'll continue to work on it," he said. "It's just like, we're working on Evelyn's Law right now. Anything we can do to provide a tool for our local law enforcement or even our TBI state enforcement, those type of things to make our community safer, we definitely want to take the time to look at it."
"We want to make sure that every hole is closed and loop is covered to know that everything will make sense in a situation like this in the future," Lee added.
The Gabby Foundation is also focused on proposing the Victim Voices Act. It would also, in part, offer increased protection for people like Gabby and Kristina Kennedy. It has been presented to Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tennessee).