Gov. Glenn Youngkin has signed legislation prompted by the murder of Lucia Bremer, a 13-year-old Henrico County middle school student ambushed in 2021 by a fellow student in her friend’s garage.
The measure, which the governor signed on the third anniversary of Bremer’s murder, makes it a class 5 child neglect felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $2,500 fine, for adults to let a child possess a firearm after they are notified that the child poses a threat of violence.
Bremer and a friend were walking home after playing soccer near Godwin High School when they were approached by a fellow Quioccasin Middle School pupil. Authorities say he pulled his guardian’s gun from the pocket of his black and grey hoodie and fired.
Bremer suffered nine gunshot wounds.
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Her slaying prompted Sen. Schuyler Van Valkenburg, D-Henrico, and Del. Rodney Willett, D-Henrico, to introduce companion Senate and House bills under which adults could be prosecuted if a minor uses an adult’s gun to commit a crime.
Youngkin called the measures “public safety bills which are commonsense reforms with significant bipartisan support from the General Assembly.”
The governor announced Tuesday that he had signed the bills while acting on 65 other measures.
Bremer’s parents, Jonathan and Meredith Bremer, said in a statement: “We know that nothing will bring back our Lucia, so the work of parenting her has shifted to telling her story and advocating for change so we can make Virginia a safer place.”
“This legislative change was necessary and important. We appreciate the wide bipartisan support it received, and we are grateful that the Governor chose to sign ‘Lucia’s Law’ on this, the third anniversary of her murder.”
In January 2023, Dylan A. Williams, who was 14 when he shot Lucia, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 60 years in prison.
A year earlier, a Henrico judge had acquitted Richard M. Pierce, Williams’ legal guardian and the owner of the gun that authorities said Williams used to kill Bremer, on a misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The juvenile court judge found that prosecutors failed to provide evidence that the gun was used in the fatal shooting or that the boy ever touched the weapon.
Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor said in a statement Tuesday: “Three years ago to the day, a troubled and violent adolescent easily was able to get a gun in his home, even after his guardian had been told of his violent tendencies, take that gun and murder an innocent 13 year old who was simply walking home from playing soccer with her best friend.
“As the Commonwealth’s Attorney charged with keeping our communities safe, this horrific tragedy required not only that the perpetrator be removed from our streets, which I am pleased to say I accomplished, but that in the future, troubled kids cannot just grab a gun from their home.”
VanValkenburg thanked the governor for signing the bill. He said Lucia was “a bright light” in the Henrico community and that the legislation further underscores Virginia’s determination to keep kids safe “in their communities and classrooms.”
Willett praised “the Bremer family’s courage and perseverance” in advocating for the legislation.
“By sharing their story they helped legislators and the Governor to understand how necessary this law is to prevent similar, preventable gun deaths from devastating other families.”