COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new bill named after the Over-the-Rhine gym owner killed earlier this summer aims to require real-time monitoring of electronic ankle monitors after two murders revealed gaps in the current system.
State Rep. Cindy Abrams (R-Harrison) is drafting legislation that would mandate immediate alerts to law enforcement when parolees tamper with their ankle monitors or violate location restrictions.
"Without public safety, nothing else matters, so everybody should be on board with this — everybody," Abrams said.
WATCH: How one grieving mother hopes the bill will change things
The bill, called the Patrick Heringer Act, comes after two murders committed by parolees who had tampered with their monitoring devices without immediate consequences.
"I found that the adult parole authority doesn't have any policy to notify local law enforcement," Abrams said.
Abrams, a former Cincinnati police officer, was shocked to discover that state-level monitoring isn't conducted in real time.
Earlier this year, Mordecai Black, on parole after serving nine years for felony assault and rioting, cut off his ankle monitor. City leaders say they were never notified. Months later, police say he broke into Heringer's home in Over-the-Rhine and murdered him.
Learn more about how officials responded to Black cutting off his monitor in the video below:
This wasn't the first such tragedy. In 2017, Brian Golsby kidnapped, robbed and raped 21-year-old Ohio State psychology student Reagan Tokes before killing her. At the time, Goolsby was wearing an ankle monitor after being released from prison for robbery and attempted rape.
"It's devastating and tragic. And the worst part about it is it didn't need to be," said Lisa Tokes, Reagan's mother.
Through her grief, Tokes has been fighting for change and is now working with Abrams on the new legislation.
"My issue is to change the law and keep people safe, and that's what we're going to do here," Abrams said.
The bill would require real-time monitoring and immediate alerts to local authorities when violations occur.
"That way everybody's on notice that this person has absconded and they are, you know, a violent felon," Abrams said.
Tokes believes such a system could have saved her daughter and others.
"There are countless lives that it would have and could have saved — Reagan's being one of them," she said.
Abrams is currently meeting with law enforcement and hopes to bring the legislation to a vote this month. Tokes and Heringer's widow, Sarah, plan to testify.
A similar bill passed the Ohio House two years ago but died in the Senate.
The bill is expected to be introduced this month, Abrams said.
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