BATON ROUGE, La. — “She was my best friend. She was my mom. She was just my whole world in a way,” said Nadia Sanchez.
Sanchez still remembers the day, nearly 5 and a half years ago, when her mom, Jeannot Plessy, 49, was carjacked, ran over, and killed right outside Sanchez’s Gentilly home.
“I can’t live in fear, in pain, in anger, and all of those things,” said Sanchez. “I don’t’ want to be stuck in that place, but it impacts you. It affects your life.”
Three teens, who were 14, 17, and 18 at the time of the crime, pleaded guilty for their roles in Plessy’s death. The older two were sentenced as adults. The youngest was sentenced as a juvenile. Sanchez says the younger two were brothers and had previously been arrested for armed robbery.
“I think it’s very telling though that many signs along the way were missed,” said Sanchez. “They’re so young to be in such violent crimes.”
Missed signs is part of the reason Sanchez has mixed feelings about proposed legislation moving through the state capitol. One bill would classify 17-year-olds charged with crimes as adults.
“Be mindful of the separation between a place for resources and a place for accountability. I think we’re caught in this space of intertwining the two,” said Sanchez.
That was part of the argument against the legislation from Senator Royce Duplessis, a Democrat from New Orleans.
“This bill does nothing in terms of investments. This bill does nothing with respect to addressing the issues that lead these young people here to begin with,” said Sen. Duplessis.
Duplessis says those issues are things like poverty, abuse, and neglect. Sanchez says it’s a balancing act that must be addressed.
“We can address the root causes in other places, but when it comes to criminal justice, there needs to be accountability, there needs to be transparency, and there needs to be fairness for the sake of victims and honestly for the sake of perpetrators,” said Sanchez.
Supporters of changing how juveniles are handled say past efforts haven’t worked and it’s time for change.
“The number one problem currently facing law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges is a violent juvenile crime in the state,” said Senator Heather Cloud, a Republican from Ville Platte.
Since her mom’s death, Sanchez has relied on mercy and grace and hopes the criminal justice system can do the same for both victims and offenders.
“I think it comes from my mom showing me how much people matter and showing love to people who we would consider the least of us if you want to say it that way,” said Sanchez.
Other pieces of legislation would make records of juvenile offenders more accessible to the public and raise any carjacking sentence to a minimum of five years. That minimum would be 20 years if a victim is hurt.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.