LYNNWOOD, Wash. — With her late daughter’s middle school as the backdrop, mom Tabitha Johnson is speaking out as she calls for armed teens to be held accountable for their actions in the courts.
Jada Woods-Johnson, 13, was shot and killed by a stray bullet inside the Alderwood Mall on July 3. A 16-year-old Edmonds boy, Samuel L. Gizaw, was arrested in connection to the killing – but was released on $50,000 bond.
“Put yourself in our shoes," Johnson said. "What if this was your kid? Jada was so innocent, and this shouldn’t be her story."
Gizaw was rearrested days later and charged as an adult in the case. He's held on $2 million in bail, but Jada’s mother wants bail revoked.
“It would make us feel like nobody cares and it until it happens to your kid you really don’t know what it feels like and it’s not a good feeling," Johnson said. "It’s a nightmare."
Johnson is behind a new online petition calling for harsher penalties for teen offenders. She wants teens charged with murder to be held without bail. She’s also calling for tougher penalties for teens convicted of gun crimes and even wants parents of these teenagers held accountable.
“If they know they are going to just get a slap on the wrist they are going to continue to do these crimes – so we just ask that there be harsher punishment and change the law and rally the law and do what we can,” Johnson said.
A step on the path towards justice while at the same time knowing it won’t bring their beloved girl back home.
“She loved music, music was her life,” Johnson said.