HB 3505: Remembering Heather Snively and John Stephen

On the evening of Friday, June 5th, 21-year-old Heather Snively’s life was taken in a Tigard home in a tragic and horrifying way. If this burden of sorrow weren’t already enough for Heather’s family, they must also grieve the loss of her unborn child, John Stephen, who was cut from her womb at eight months. Korena Roberts, the alleged killer, met Heather through Craigslist and the two had arranged to trade baby items. Neither Heather nor her baby John Stephen survived their meeting. Korena Roberts stands as a prime example of the vast shortfall in Oregon law on fetal homicide. She will only be held accountable for the death of Heather Snively, and John Stephen, who was growing strong and on all accounts at a normal rate, will never see a moment of justice in Oregon’s court of law. The family of Heather Snively and many throughout Oregon say Ms. Roberts should face the consequences for knowingly killing both Heather and John Stephen.

Senator Starr responded immediately upon hearing news of the incident and introduced legislation to remedy Oregon’s law. Thirty-six other states in the U.S. recognize “maternal homicide” as a prosecutable crime, and although this issue has come before the Oregon Senate before, Starr had hoped Heather’s recent case would be a voice to the bill. HB 3505 was introduced on Heather’s behalf. After weeks of jockeying with Legislature leadership to get a hearing on SB 982, a few of Starr’s Democrat colleagues agreed to step up and support HB 3505. With bipartisan muster, the bill saw great success. With barely a moment to spare, the bill was considered and passed out of both chambers within a three-day time span. Effective January 1, 2010, knowingly killing a woman who is pregnant will automatically be classified as aggravated murder. In the case of assault, sentencing is elevated to an assault in the first degree.