TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Nearly three years after a deadly shooting in Pine Hills claimed the life of 9-year-old T’Yonna “YaYa” Major, her family is back at the Florida Capitol urging lawmakers to close what they call a deadly communication gap.
The push centers on SB 814, known as the “YaYa Alert,” a proposal that would require law enforcement to immediately notify nearby schools and child care centers when there is an imminent violent threat.
Supporters say that kind of alert could have changed the outcome in February 2023, when police were searching for a murder suspect during a school day, but no warning went out to schools or child care facilities in the area.
“Minutes matter, seconds matter,” said Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Florida, who is sponsoring the bill. “That’s why SB 814 exists today.”
Lawmakers and YaYa’s family stood side by side at a Capitol press conference this week, remembering the child they describe as bright, driven and full of promise.
“Oh my God, that little star,” said YaYa’s aunt, Angel Grant Lee. “Perfectionist, gymnast, very smart.”
During the manhunt, family members say the lack of an alert left parents without critical information — and allowed normal routines to continue despite the danger nearby.
“If that alert would have been sounded that day, my sister wouldn’t have been able to pick her up,” Lee said. “A lot would have been done that day, and a child’s life would have been saved.”
Hours later, the gunman walked into YaYa’s home and killed her.
Rep. RaShon Young, D-Orlando, said the proposal is about preventing those gaps in communication.
“The YaYa Act is about those hours of silence,” Young said.
Under SB 814, law enforcement would be required to notify schools and child care centers within roughly a three-mile radius when there is an imminent violent threat — giving administrators time to lock down campuses and parents the information they need to act.
Jones stressed the bill wouldn’t create a brand new alert system, but would instead improve and standardize the ones already in use.
“This is not about creating a new system,” he said. “It’s about making the system we already have work better.”
For YaYa’s mother, Brandi Major, the effort is deeply personal.
“This is why we must protect our children,” she said. “And that’s what YaYa Alert is about.”
The bill previously passed the Florida Senate unanimously in a prior session, but has not yet cleared the legislature this year. It still faces multiple committee stops in both chambers.
Supporters say they’re hopeful lawmakers will again rally around the measure and set politics aside.
“Bullets are not red or blue,” Jones said. “Nor do they have a D or an R around their name.”
If approved, the YaYa Alert would create a uniform statewide standard, replacing what supporters describe as a patchwork of county-by-county policies.
With lawmakers now in the third week of the 60-day legislative session, advocates say there is still time — and urgency — to act.
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