TOLEDO, OHIO -- A Toledo mother says she hopes a new Ohio law will protect other teens from the fate met by her daughter, killed by an ex-boyfriend who had hurt the girl before.
Cheryl Rucker was on hand at the Statehouse on Wednesday as Gov. Ted Strickland signed legislation allowing juvenile courts to issue orders of protection for minors in dating relationships.
The new law has been nicknamed Shynerra's law, after Rucker's teenage daughter, Shynerra Grant of Toledo. Police say, in June of 2005, less than two weeks after graduating from Start High School, the 17-year-old was shot to death by an abusive former boyfriend. According to police, Antonio Rogers, 18, acted out of pure rage. After the fatal shooting, Rogers went home and killed himself.
Grant's family says the couple had a history of violence in their relationship and that Shynerra had already taken out a personal protection order before she was killed. Autopsy results revealed that Grant died of a gunshot wound to the head.
Rucker says if her daughter had been able to obtain an adult-style protection order she'd be alive today. Family members say Grant, the recent high school grad, had a full college scholarship.
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