BOSTON — More than three years after 19-year-old Northampton High School graduate Jesse Johansmeyer was fatally struck by a pickup truck and left to die leaving a bonfire party in Hatfield, his mother testified before legislators last Friday morning in support of a proposed bill that would legally compel bystanders to call 911 in the event of an emergency.
Johansmeyer, 19, was struck by a partygoer’s truck on the night of March 25, 2023, as he and others fled the gathering out of fear that police were on their way. Forty-five minutes passed before anyone called emergency services.
“For more than 45 minutes, Jesse remained on his hands and knees, suffering and bleeding internally, while people stood,” Jesse’s mother, Darlene Thorpe, told the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. “Forty-five minutes is 2,700 seconds — 2,700 opportunities for someone to make a phone call that takes only seconds. Instead of calling for emergency medical assistance, they recorded videos … If it were your son, your daughter, your brother, your sister, friend, or loved one, lying there in desperate need of help, what would you hope someone would do?”
Introduced by Thorpe and sponsored by Sen. Joanne Comerford and Rep. Homar Gómez, the proposed Act to Ensure Appropriate and Timely Emergency Medical Response (H.5437) would make it a misdemeanor to witness a life-threatening emergency and neglect to call 911, or an equivalent emergency response entity.
The proposed legislation, dubbed “Jesse’s Law,” contains exceptions in situations where medical aid is already on scene or if the act of calling 911 would put the caller in danger. The committee has until Sept. 29 to report back on the bill.
Gómez provided an overview of the legislation in his testimony, explaining that it aims to compel bystanders to act in an emergency and possibly save a life, noting that in Johansmeyer’s case, none of the more than 10 people present at the time called for help out of fear that they would get in trouble.
Gómez argued that the bill calls for “the bare minimum,” noting that any bystander can be “a hero without putting [oneself] in harm’s way.”
“The most painful part of Jesse’s story is knowing that his death was preventable. Under the current Massachusetts law, bystanders have no legal obligation to call for help when someone is laying in front of them with life-threatening injuries,” Gómez said. “The legal loopholes allow a group of people to do nothing without any consequences. House Bill 5437 exists … to require actions in life-threatening emergencies, expand our current duty-to-report law to include cases where someone has suffered serious injuries caused by another person’s actions or neglect.”
Following Johansmeyer’s death, Thorpe and Jesse’s sister, Willow Vandoloski, launched “Jesse’s Justice,” a nonprofit charity that aims to promote the pending legislation, grow awareness of Johansmeyer’s story and support other families facing similar losses.
Vandoloski described her younger brother as having a “smile that could light up a room,” and a knack for “making everyone around him feel welcome.” She often questions how preventable Johansmeyer’s death was — a question she said she hopes no family will ever have to ask themselves. She said more than 7,800 people, including 5,400 Massachusetts residents, have already signed a petition in support of the bill.
“He had his entire future ahead of him. To many people, this is a bill. To me, he was my baby brother. Three years ago, our lives changed forever, and there isn’t a single day that goes by that I don’t think about Jesse,” Vandoloski said. “Losing him changed every part of our family, and it left us with questions that we will carry for the rest of our lives. One of those questions is whether a timely call for emergency medical assistance could have changed the outcome. No family should have to live with that question.”
Following Vandolosoki’s testimony, Committee Chair Rep. Michael Day extended his condolences to Johansmeyer’s family members, mentioning that he “stands in awe of families that turn tragedy into something productive.”
Similar “duty-to-act” laws have precedent, already existing in Rhode Island, Vermont and Minnesota. Comerford, who also testified Friday morning, urged the committee to support the bill, explaining that she believes it is grounded in “a basic value.”
“It’s a measured, thoughtful bill grounded in a basic value that we all share — that when a life is in danger, we have a responsibility as people to act,” Comerford said. “We all wish we were meeting under different circumstances — no family should have to channel the loss of a child into changing the law, but Jesse’s family had done so with remarkable grace and determination. This bill asks something very simple of all of us: when someone is gravely injured, we can’t look away.”
