Correction: The 2015 annual meeting of the Southern Legislative Conference is scheduled to meet in Savannah, Ga. This article included the wrong location for next year’s gathering.
Jayann Sepich began slowly, speaking calmly as she recounted the day in 2003 when her husband had to identify their murdered daughter's body.
Sepich has told the story of her daughter Katie's murder -- and the three years it took to find her killer -- dozens of times in her effort to persuade states to pass DNA collection laws. She spoke in a ballroom at the Little Rock Marriott on Tuesday, addressing legislators from across the South as part of the last day of seminars during the Southern Legislative Conference.
"Her daddy said when he went to the morgue and had to look at her face ... it was bruised and pained, and he fell to his knees. And he asked God to die, too, because he didn't want to take another breath," Sepich said. "No father should have to go through that."
Katie Sepich, 22, was abducted on her way home from a party at New Mexico State University in August 2003. The graduate student's body was found at a dump the next morning, partially burned.
Jayann Sepich explained that the only evidence police had was DNA that was found under her daughter's fingernails.
"I said 'Great. The next time this man does something, they'll arrest him and sample his DNA and it will match,'" she said. "There's no way someone this violent, there's no way this monster, won't be caught."
But police told Sepich that New Mexico law at that time did not allow for the involuntary collection of DNA from criminals. Sepich and her husband began working to persuade the state Legislature to pass what became known as Katie's Law, which allowed for the collection of DNA upon a suspect's arrest on felony charges and upon conviction for certain other charges.
After the law passed in 2006, police took a DNA sample from Gabriel Avila, who had been convicted of a burglary charge. He subsequently confessed to Katie Sepich's rape and murder and was sentenced to 69 years in prison without parole.
Sepich has been on a crusade with her nonprofit group DNA Saves to talk to legislators in all 50 states in an effort to spur them to pass similar legislation. According to the nonprofit's research, 29 states -- including Arkansas -- have passed laws allowing DNA to be collected from suspects arrested and charged with some felony-level crimes. The rules vary from state to state.
In Arkansas, Act 974 of 2009 allows for DNA to be collected for suspects arrested and charged with capital murder, first-degree murder, kidnapping, first-degree sexual assault and second-degree sexual assault.
Sepich took questions from several legislators, including a woman from Kentucky who asked about the cost of implementing DNA database and testing programs. Kentucky is one of the 21 states that do not have a law allowing DNA collection upon arrest.
Sepich said there is a federal grant through 2015 for states looking to implement or expand DNA collection efforts.
She said a study by the Denver Police Department showed that it had saved $90 on investigations for every $1 it spent to collect DNA. A DNA swab test costs about $30.
The seminar was one of a handful Tuesday as the 68th annual Southern Legislative Conference came to a close. The conference will be held in Atlanta in 2015.
Metro on 07/30/2014