SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Social media posts allege a custody struggle between Halo Branton's father Amar, and her mother Persia Nelson. A proposed law aims to put child welfare at the forefront of custody cases, when there are questions about a parent’s ability to care for that child.
Kyra’s Law was named after Jacquline Franchetti's daughter Kyra who was killed by her father during an unsupervised court-ordered visit in Virginia, despite Franchetti's allegations of abuse during custody hearings in Nassau County Court.
“In Kyra’s case, just one person put her life for her safety first Kira would be alive," said Franchetti.
Persia Nelson faces manslaughter and murder charges for Halo’s death. Franchetti wants to make sure nothing like this happens to anyone else's child.
“Kyra’s law will ensure that child safety is always the top priority, and we have a variety of mechanisms to help through that. One of the things that is key and critical is for judges to look at lethality factors when assessing these life-and-death situations. Judges currently don't do that. They didn't do that in Kyra’s case" said Franchetti.
Franchetti tells NEWS10 that the statistics about children involved in these situations are concerning.
“There have been 33 children, including my daughter and Baby Halo [allegedly] who have been murdered by their own parents — their own mother and father — while going through a custody case, separation, or divorce in New York State since 2016 alone. That is a horrible number" said Franchetti.
New York State Senator James Skofis sponsored the bill and says child welfare needs to be at the forefront of safety considerations.
“[Child welfare] sometimes is, sometimes it is not [taken into consideration]. It depends on the judge. It depends on the circumstances. That's current law. What Kyra's law would do, would make that consideration first and foremost. No questions asked.
Persia Nelson is scheduled to be in Schenectady Court on Friday.
