PHOENIX — Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell is pushing lawmakers to revise Arizona's criminal statutes to toughen penalties on assaults consisting of a group of people ganging up on a victim.
The county's top prosecutor said Wednesday during a press conference in Queen Creek that she's advocating for legislation to be introduced in the next session that would target acts of "swarming," or instances of violence involving several assailants attacking a singular victim.
Mitchell said she thinks this type of offense should be charged as a Class 4 felony, which couldn't be revised down to a misdemeanor. By elevating this type of an assault up to a Class 4 felony, it widens the sentencing range a defendant faces if they're convicted.
The proposal is being made in response to the slew of assault cases reviewed by Mitchell's office over the last year involving acts of violence committed against teens.
One of the the most notable instances of teen violence reported in the East Valley resulted in the death of 16-year-old Preston Lord last October. Since Lord's death, local municipalities have reacted by implementing new measures to reduce the frequency of teen violence.
Republican lawmakers Matt Gress and Julie Willoughby are supportive of Mitchell's legislative proposal.
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