PHOENIX — It took almost two years, but Paolla Jordan just needs the Arizona governor's signature to change the law in hopes of preventing another tragedy.
Her journey began after her son, 17-year-old Adrio Romine, took his own life in 2019.
"I got a call," Jordan said.
Adrio's death caught her by surprise. It wouldn't be until a notification popped up on her son's phone after his death that what happened became more clear.
“It said I hope you find the peace you are looking for, and so I swiped up on the phone and that’s where I found the dialog,” Jordan said.
What she found was a conversation going back more than a month between her son and a stranger on Reddit.
Jordan says her son and this other user confided in each other about their suicidal thoughts - at times discussing exactly how they would do it and even giving advice.
12 News reviewed many of these screenshots and narrowed in on a few of the more disturbing conversations.
Adrio under the screen name "thechosenbean1" asked, "A 9 mm too small?" The other user replied, "9 mm is pretty standard. It'd work if you used that."
Later, Adrio asked the user, "Any size gun too small to kill?" and the account replied, "A pellet gun or airsoft gun definitely won't do it," as if to make sure he didn't use the wrong weapon.
Even on the night of Adrio's suicide, the account gave him specific detail on how to fire the exact type of Ruger pistol he would be using.
"He’s definitely a monster," Jordan said.
Jordan asked multiple police agencies to investigate, to try and find the man on the other end of the messages. However, officers would tell her there was nothing they could do.
There was no law broken.
"There is no law in the United States that prohibits an adult to talk to a minor and instruct or encourage them to die by suicide," Jordan said.
Since then, she has tried to change that by pushing legislation that would make it manslaughter if any adult provides advice or encouragement that a minor uses to take their own life.
On Thursday, Arizona lawmakers approved HB 2459 without a dissenting vote, sending the legislation to the governor's desk.
"It means a lot because they listened," Jordan said "I know that my son was with me. I believe he would want this."
The bill needs the governor's signature to become law. The governor's office said they are still reviewing the legislation.
If signed, Jordan said it would be the first of its kind in the U.S.
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