Obama reviewing DNA bill 'Katie's Law' named for slain NMSU student

Sun-News photo by Diana M. Alba

CARLSBAD -- Of the many bills that have made it to President Barack Obama's desk in the past few weeks, the one named the Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act of 2012 has the utmost significance to a Carlsbad family.

The federal DNA act is a spinoffof Katie's Law, which is already in effect in 25 states and requires that a DNA sample be taken upon arrest from anyone suspected of a felony.

Katie's Law is named after the daughter of Dave and Jayann Sepich. The Carlsbad resident was raped, murdered and burned at the age of 22 while attending New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.

At the national level, the Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act of 2012 is now being reviewed in the White House after passing with a unanimous vote in the Senate last month. According to Jayann Sepich's daughter Caraline, the bill would allow for three years of funding for all states for the initial costs of starting the Katie's Law project and DNA database.

"She (Katie) fought very hard for her life," said Jayann Sepich. "She had her attacker's skin under her fingernails."

Jayann Sepich began pushing for DNA collection of those arrested after finding out that DNA was not collected in New Mexico. When the Sepich family traveled to Las Cruces in 2003 to meet with police investigators who had no leads on Katie's killer, Jayann Sepich said she remembers telling the police detective something along the lines of, "I'm sure that monster will be arrested for

He explained that someone arrested on a different charge could not be connected with the DNA of Katie's killer unless he or she was first convicted of a crime.

The detective's statement came as a shock to the couple because after having watched shows like "CSI" for years, they were both under the impression that taking a $30 cheek swab to gain a DNA profile of anyone arrested for a felony was common practice.

"We were sadly mistaken," Dave Sepich said.

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Obama reviewing DNA bill 'Katie's Law' named for slain NMSU student