JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It was a heinous act that sent shockwaves through the First Coast.
A foundation that was established in memory of Tristyn Bailey, who was 13 years old when she was murdered, was instrumental in the modification of a statute in the state of Florida.
“This legislation was a part of multiple public records requests that have been made to the State Attorney’s Office in St. Johns County related to the crime scene photos of her death,” said Matthew Hinson.
“This legislation was a part of multiple public records requests that have been made to the State Attorney’s Office in St. Johns County.” “And all of this took place over the course of several months, but it wasn’t until January of this year that it was brought to our attention.”
Hinson, an attorney with the Tristyn Bailey Memorial Foundation who has worked closely with the Bailey family, claims that he was involved in the drafting of the language that was subsequently included in the Rex and Brody Act.
“We were able to push this through, and just last Thursday the governor signed our bill,” which “protects the release of crime scene photos of any minor child who has been murdered in the state of Florida.” “We were able to push this through, and just last Thursday the governor signed our bill.”
He believes that Senate Bill 404 is already having an effect on the situation.
“It’s big. We have already received a request for a copy of the bill over the phone from the prosecutor’s office of a county in the south, and that call came in on Monday. Even now, it has not appeared in print anywhere. It is going to be of assistance to another family in that area,” said Hinson. As a result, its significance lies in the fact that it will ensure the continuation of her legacy.
Without the consent of the family of the victim or the court, it is a criminal of the third degree under the law to publish an image, video, or audio recording that documents the killing of a child.
“We decided there was no better way to handle this problem than to make it the foundation’s first major legislative agenda item. “We knew we’d have a lot of impact for families all over the state of Florida,” Hinson said. “It was urgent because of the nature of her case that was going on.”
“I sat down and wrote this piece of legislation for the foundation, and we presented to the Florida Prosecutor’s Association, and they got behind it, and then we just started phoning everyone we could in Tallahassee,” she said. “I sat down and wrote this piece of legislation for the foundation.
Because they were already in session, we were unable to immediately propose a bill to them. We were required to make an attempt to attach an amendment to a different bill.
Hinson is of the opinion that the community will be better off as a result of this modification, which became official the moment Governor DeSantis signed it into law.
“So many children who are now in high school who were in Tristyn’s class, so many friends who are still in middle school, they would be subject to having to click on some person’s random Twitter profile or some YouTube page, and they think they’re learning something great about Tristyn, and then all of a sudden they’re seeing her crime scene photos. This has happened to a lot of people. And doing so serves no useful purpose,” Hinson emphasized.
The Tristyn Bailey Memorial Foundation intends to carry on its mission of advocating for victims, as well as providing self-defense training, warning parents and children about the risks of using social media, and awarding scholarships to high school students in the surrounding area.
