By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
A petition aiming to change Kentucky’s criminal penalties has been created by the family of 15-year-old Matthew Arms, who was shot on May 24 and has since undergone multiple surgeries.
According to Lori Beth Bunch, Matthew’s mother, he has been at T.J. Regional Health, Norton’s Children Hospital and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital where he, to some degree or another, had medical procedures related to the May 24 shooting. According to Bunch, though they will “start having conversations that give [Matthew] a roadmap out of the ICU” on July 12, he is expected to remain in Cincinnati the remainder of this year.
“[W]e now have the knowledge that Matthew will most likely be coming home we just don’t [know] when and that’s okay,” Bunch wrote.
His alleged shooter, Christopher Rye, 20, has since been arrested and charged with first-degree assault and three counts of wanton endangerment. However, at the time of this publication, Rye’s case had been forwarded to a grand jury, which has not yet produced an indictment.
Taking these charges to sentencing — which, again, is not yet the case — he is facing at least ten year for the first-degree assault charge, which the petition — aimed at both the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky Department of Justice — asserts is not strict enough.
“It is time for a change,” the petition states. “We call on lawmakers in the state of Kentucky to modernize and fortify the criminal justice system’s approach to crimes involving firearms. We seek the introduction of stricter penalties for crimes involving guns, which we believe will better reflect the seriousness of these offenses, and hopefully reduce the likelihood of similar incidents happening in the future.”
Currently the petition has 86 of the hoped-for 100 signatures. The full petition can be viewed here.
“It might be to late for true justice for Matthew, but we want something positive to come out of this and for people to think twice before the involve guns in crimes committed in our state,” Bunch wrote when asked for comment. “That alone would be the best justice for him and those that came before.”
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