Households unite in help of Georgia Murder Victims’ Households Rights Act | Campus Information

The families of former University of Georgia law student Tara Louise Baker of Lovejoy and Rhonda Sue Coleman of Hazlehurst join forces to introduce the Georgia Homicide Victims’ Families Rights Act of 2022.

On January 19, 2001, Baker was found murdered in her apartment in east Athens. The unanswered questions surrounding the incident have occupied the UGA community since her tragic death. Baker’s family has been without answers for over 20 years – but they’re not the only family to have had this experience.

Rhonda Sue Coleman was 18 when she was kidnapped in May 1990 after a high school party. She was found three days later in a wooded area in a neighboring county.

“I’ve been a patient man but actually I’m 70 years old and I know I don’t have that many years left to live and if the good Lord is ready to carry me home, I’m ready to.” I’m not worried about that, but I mean if we could get some answers in the last few years that we have on Earth, maybe we could have some peace,” said Milton Coleman, Rhonda Sue Coleman’s father .

Proposed Georgia legislation aims to establish an independent homicide review board, improve access to information for victims’ families and the district attorney, empower the attorney general to investigate bias in homicide investigations, require the issuance of preliminary death certificates, and the Funds for forensics to increase evidence review, the press release said.

A similar bipartisan law was recently introduced at the federal level by Representatives Eric Swalwell of California and Michael McCaul of Texas.

Reps McCaul and Swalwell introduced the Murder Victims’ Family Members’ Rights Act of 2021 in the House on May 19, 2021, which has since passed after a unanimous vote on December 8, 2021 by The House Judiciary Committee, according to a press release on McCaul’s website .

Former prosecutors Swalwell and McCaul want to give murder victims’ families more rights in the investigation through the Homicide Victims’ Families’ Rights Act of 2021. The law will reserve victims’ families the right to have their loved ones’ cases cold retrospectively for three or more years, with relevant authorities reviewing case files to determine if a full re-examination is necessary.

In addition, re-examinations of all physical evidence will be conducted to determine that all required testing has been completed, and all case files will be modernized to bring them up to the current investigative standard, as required by law.

Rep. Swalwell said he has offered his support to the Baker and Coleman families in their efforts to pass similar legislation in Georgia.

Natasha Bennett, the Coleman family attorney and Rhonda Sue Coleman’s cousin, was 10 years old when Rhonda died. She said she spent more than a decade trying to find answers to what happened 31 years ago.

“Rhonda was killed 31 years ago, her parents weren’t even told how she died,” Bennett said. “They never saw their autopsy report, they never got any information, you know, that would set out what happened.”

Bennett said she came across Swalwell and McCaul’s Homicide Victims’ Families’ Rights Act, and it was only when she read it that she learned of the many rights victims’ families were entitled to but were denied.

“I never had any idea that there were more rights that a victim’s family could gain,” Bennett said. “We were always told that the state controls everything, that we were not entitled to any information, we would only get, you know, what law enforcement wanted us to know.”

The Coleman family gradually lost hope that their questions about Rhonda’s death would be answered until Sean Kipe, an Atlanta podcaster, contacted the family to do a podcast about Rhonda’s case for Imperative Entertainment, Bennett said.

Kipe’s Fox Hunter podcast helped generate new witnesses and information, and fueled tensions between Rhonda’s family, Kipe and the GBI when they failed to follow up on leads found on the show. The tensions eventually led to the creation of “Rhonda’s Law,” which has since been embedded within the Georgia Homicide Victim’s Familys Rights Act of 2022, Bennett said.

Rhonda’s Law was modeled after the Homicide Victim’s Families Rights Act of 2021, proposed federal legislation, and is specifically tailored to the families of victims in the state of Georgia, Bennett said.

Athens-based Cameron Jay has spent nearly two years championing and raising awareness of Baker’s story through his Classic City Crime podcast. Jay’s podcast brought national attention to the cold case, leading to the Baker family finally getting an autopsy report due to the media frenzy surrounding the 24-episode series.

Jay led the effort behind the Georgia Homicide Victim’s Families Rights Act of 2022 in partnership with the Baker and Coleman and Kipe families.

Kipe was contacted by Jay after discussing Rhonda’s law on an episode of “Fox Hunter,” in which Jay expressed interest in using Rhonda’s law in conjunction with similar initiatives they started in Athens, Bennett said.

“We noticed that when we talked to them [the Baker family and Jay] you know, we had parts that we never thought of and we had things that they never thought of, so in our collaboration we put together this draft bill that’s modeled after federal legislation but written in a way that’s a possibility that would benefit Georgia families,” Bennett said.

Milton Coleman said he hopes this legislation gets passed so he and his family can get the answers they are looking for and finally have peace and closure.

“Tara was such a staunch advocate for justice… We knew that [proposing this act] honoring her would be a great way to honor her legacy,” Jay said.

Jay hopes this act will bring recognition to the fact that when a family member is murdered, the pain extends beyond the victim themselves. Their families and friends are left behind to continue fighting for the victim and deserve the necessary rights to do so.

“Even if Tara’s case cannot be solved, we know that we are not alone in this experience. I hope this law can bring justice and peace to others who are in the same unfortunate circumstances as we are,” said Meredith Schroeder, Baker’s younger sister.