Families of cyber bullying victims speak out
HOUSTON, Texas (FOX 26) - Music fills the air at Etheredge Stadium in La Marque as family, friends and supporters of those against bulling join together to raise awareness for David’s Law.
"I'm hoping that everybody really takes something from this rally on anti-bullying because we really need to help from our lawmakers and everybody", says Brenda Harper who attended the rally.
The law is named after David Molak from Alamo Heights, who committed suicide at just 16. If passed it would make is a misdemeanor to cyberbully anyone under the age of 18 and require schools to create policies to help report these crimes.
State Representative Wayne Faircloth says, "what we are doing at the legislature is trying to craft legislation, that would provide the tools neccesary for law enforcement, for the schools, for the communities, to be able to deal with this".
Raul Vela was in attendance for the rally. On November 29th of 2016 his daughter Brandy Vela committed suicide. For months the young Texas City woman was tormented by an ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend, who allegedly creates fake social media posts about Vela, advertising illegal acts. "I think these rallies are going to help raise the awareness we need to get our state representatives and people up at the capital the attention, to help us get laws passed", says Raul Vela.
In connection with that case, Andres Villagomez, 21, is facing a Class A misdemeanor for unlawful disclosure or promotion of intimate visual material.
His girlfriend Karinthya Sanchez Romero, 22, is facing two third degree felony charges for stalking and online impersonation.
Rally’s like the one held today, for Vela, are important because it helps bring a face to the victims of these online crimes on social media.
"I can't tell you how many times I told my daughter to delete things and just turn the phone off, well now that she is not here I see myself doing the same thing, it's not that easy, it's become part of our everyday life for 24 hours", says Vela.