Bronx lawmakers, Jacob Freytes’ mother and an attorney general candidate announced “Jacob’s Law” at the spot where the 12-year-old was fatally shot two weeks ago while riding his bicycle.
The proposal would raise penalties for people whose reckless actions cause a child’s death, aiming to make state law better reflect the severity of such killings.
State Senators Steve Chan and Steve Rhoads and Assemblyman John Mikulin are expected to sponsor the bill, which backers plan to introduce in both chambers of the New York Legislature.
Jacob, a Walden student visiting family in the Bronx, was killed by gunfire from what his family described as a career criminal, turning his death into a push for broader sentencing changes statewide.