OLYMPIA, Wash. — In one of the early committee hearings of Washington’s 2026 short legislative session, lawmakers heard a bill that would remove juveniles who commit serious, violent offenses from the “three strikes” law in Washington.
The “Three Strikes” law was passed by voters in 1994, requiring that ‘persistent offenders’ of the ‘most serious crimes’ in Washington State --like murder, felony assaults, rapes, and sexual assaults-- would be sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of the third of those crimes.
Proposed Senate Bill 5945 would remove serious crimes committed by juveniles from being considered in sentencing.
“They’re valuing and hand-holding the criminals of this state and to hell with the victims, to hell with my grandmother, to hell with me,” Melanie Roberts said of the bill.
Roberts’ grandmother, Ruth Dalton, was murdered in Seattle’s Madison Park neighborhood, where the community remembered her as a beloved dog-walker and staple of the area. She was sending Bible devotionals when she was killed.
The man arrested and accused of her murder, Jahmed Haynes, would get a third strike if convicted, though his first strike was from a 1993 crime when he was a juvenile, meaning the strike would be removed if the bill passes.
“The only thing that has given me any comfort is that my grandmother’s death would be the reason Haynes would spend the rest of his life in prison,” Roberts said.
Her sentiment is reinforced by the fact Haynes entered a plea deal that avoided what would have then-been a third strike years before Dalton’s death, meaning he would have been sentenced to life.
KIRO 7 Investigated the challenges that has caused Roberts and her family.
Supporters of the bill say it’s based on research into adolescent brain development.
“In recent years, Washington has made significant strides in updating its criminal legal system to reflect the research we know about brain development and young people’s cognitive capacities,” Katy Hurley testified Tuesday, who is a special counsel for Criminal Policy and Practice at the King County Public Defender’s office.
Hurley says Black and other people of color are 16 times more likely to serve a life sentence for offenses committed while under 18, versus white offenders.
Senator Claire Wilson, a Democrat representing Auburn and South King County, said that disproportional impact is something she’s trying to change.
“It’s not not holding young people accountable and it’s not not holding adults accountable, but it’s also understanding where they are in their own development,” Wilson said.
She said that this change in law has been considered for several years in the state Congress.
Several estimates given during testimony say 24 incarcerated individuals would be eligible for case review, should the law pass.
The bill would not remove sentences for other serious crimes committed as adults, but would require resentencing.
State organizations representing prosecutors, sheriffs and police chiefs testified against the bill, saying that while the bill’s intent is around juvenile offenders, it ignores strikes that were earned as adult offenders.
“They’re condoning criminals, they’re condoning bad behavior, violent behavior,” Roberts said. “Strikes aren’t just felonies, they are violent felonies against others.”