CHARLOTTE — Strangulation is one of the more brutal crimes that happens across the Carolinas.
Some say that the punishment does not fit the crime, and Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather is helping to lead the charge.
Under North Carolina state law, if someone is convicted of strangling someone, they could get the same amount of probation as someone who, for example, breaks into a tool shed.
That could soon change with the proposed HB109.
Merriweather said his prosecutors have seen their fair share of strangulation cases over the years.
Wesley Smith was convicted in 2024 of beating and strangling his girlfriend at apartments off Glenfiddich Drive.
The victim took the stand, and Smith was sentenced to up to seven years in prison.
That length of sentencing isn’t always the case.
“Right now, the state of our law does not take it as seriously as they need to,” Merriweather said.
That is why Merriweather is working with Rep. Carolyn Logan who drafted HB109.
If passed, it would make an assault by strangulation charge a mid-level felony and would increase the punishment for it from probation to up to 47 months in prison.
The proposed bill would also allow strangulation charges to be filed without proof of physical injuries at the scene.
If that physical injury is present, it could enhance the charge.
“It may be days later before there is any evidence of strangulation that comes up,” Merriweather said.
According to a study last year, a victim who is strangled by a partner even one time increases that victim’s risk of being killed by that partner by more than 600%.
That is why Merriweather wants to see the punishment change.
“It’s likely that that is someone who is on the road to try to kill you at another place and time,” he said.
Merriweather believes this could be something that gets support on both sides of the political aisle.
If passed, HB109 could become law as early as this summer.
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