A Mid-Michigan family is asking for lawmakers to move forward with a proposed bill that's been stalled for years.
It's called Wyatt's law, named after a baby, Wyatt Rewoldt, who was almost killed five years ago on November 1st, 2013.
The proposed law is a package of bills that would create an online child abuse registry, for anyone to access it. It was introduced in the House and Senate.
Families are no longer asking, they are begging.
14-month-old Logan Tracy was killed on October 11th, 2018, when his father's girlfriend allegedly beat him to death.
"If you can find out who has urinated public, and now they are on the sex offender registry. You should be able to find out who is abusing children," said Susan Ziegler, grandmother of Logan Tracy.
On October 29th, 2018 Susan Ziegler sat in court as 24-year-old Amber Reeves was charged in the death Logan.
"October 11, that evening he stopped breathing. My son performed CPR and a neighbor helped him, he was already gone, " Ziegler recalled.
Erica Hammel of St. Clair Shores almost lost her son Wyatt as a result of extreme physical abuse.
Wyatt was only one-year-old in 2013 when he was shaken by his father's girlfriend, Rachel Edwards. He is now five years old and has permanent cognitive and developmental delays.
That's why Hammel proposed Wyatt's law in 2015, that would make convicted child abusers register online and allow anyone to access it.
Three years later and there is still no registry in Michigan.
State Senator Curtis Hertel said he can't understand why it hasn't passed, but told News 10 there is some movement. In February the Senate package of bills was passed by the Senate committee. Now it's up to the Senate majority leader to bring it up for a vote.
"I think the bill is important because parents have a right to know if there are child abusers that are coming in contact with their children," said Curtis Hertel, (D) 23rd District.
Ziegler believes if there was a registry already available, Logan would still be alive.
The reasoning is because Reeves had previously pleaded guilty to fourth-degree child abuse in 2016. However, once she completed her probation terms her record was cleared.
"I have to wake up every day and wonder they have a program that they can complete and so they can go back and thirty days later, kill a child," said Hertel.
One of the biggest concerns for the registry is the cost.
"I think it's relatively small because we already have the sex offender registry, so we already have the technology available to us. There is certainly some cost but I think it's well worth it to keep kids safe and keep parents informed. And I think Wyatt's life is worth more than a few million dollars for a registry and I think that most of the children that have been hurt are worth more than the cost of what a registry is," said Hertel.
That argument hasn't been enough to push it through by the Senate leadership. The delay has left a grieving grandmother to plead for it.
"I'm not asking, I'm not asking, I am begging I'm begging our senators who have let this bill sit. I'm begging you please in the next five weeks you are in session when you have the time, pass this bill. Don't let another Logan happen don't let another Wyatt happen, I beg you please," said Ziegler.
The ACLU has also spoken out against Wyatts Law. Their concerns are of privacy for victims and for family members of those that live in the same household as the accused.
