Nalani Johnson deserved a long, long life.
She deserved birthday parties and Halloween costumes. A prom dress and a graduation ceremony. She should have gotten married and had kids of her own.
Instead she got less than two years.
The little girl whose family said she had a clever head and an infectious laugh died at the end of what should have been a fun day at Kennywood when Sharena Nancy took her from her father and drove away. On Friday, Nancy pleaded guilty to smothering Nalani and leaving her body in Pine Ridge Park, still strapped in her car seat.
Her plea agreement was to third-degree murder and kidnapping in exchange for a sentence of 15 to 30 years, with 2½ years time served. Nancy’s attorney waxed eloquent about her leadership in prison — a pleasant person and a mentor, who apparently just happened to murder a toddler.
The agreement itself is maddening, as third-degree murder generally means a murder that was not intentional and not committed during the course of another crime. The kidnapping belies that, as does the fact that every mile Nancy drove away from Penn Hills was a little more intention.
But there’s nothing that can be done about Nancy. There is nothing that can bring Nalani back.
There is, however, still time to help the other Nalanis out there. The other children whose lives can still be saved when something — intentional or not — threatens them.
House Bill 509 has been sitting in the Judiciary Committee since February 2021. The proposal would amend the Amber Alert System to allow for faster implementation of the system when particularly vulnerable children are involved and when the adult in question is not a parent or family member.
If this rule were in place when Nalani was taken, her life might have been saved. If this rule is in place in the future, another family might not suffer the unimaginable grief her family is experiencing.
Every kid deserves those birthday parties and graduations and proms and futures. Nalani won’t get hers, but the Nalani Johnson Rule could make a difference.
