SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – The mother of a teenager murdered by his father in a contentious custody battle is supporting a bill she believes could have saved his life.
Leah Moses said her son, Om Moses Gandhi, had the perfect name.
“His name means peace,” Leah said.
The Justice Files: Never-before-seen footage of Parth Gandhi, the man accused of killing his own son at Sugar House
Peace is something Leah and her family desperately wanted, but instead she spent years in court over custody of her children against her ex Parth Gandhi, a man she was terrified of.
“In fact, many of the professionals who worked with us said: You know, this situation is so bad. This is seriously the worst thing we've ever seen. In fact, it’s so bad that we really think your kids must just be aging,” Leah said.
In 2023, on Mother's Day weekend, Gandhi assassinated Om and took his own life.
“I imagine that maybe in the final moments he actually intervened, he intervened to protect me and his sister,” Leah said.
Leah supports HB 272also known as Om Law.
“It codifies what we already have in law to keep children safe. And then the testimony is limited to experts who truly understand domestic violence, control and abuse. And then we also need to make sure that we only include families in safe treatments. And then the last part, I think, is actually the most important, which is the continued and improved education of decision makers,” Leah said.
Moses said she knew not everyone would join in, especially those who benefit from long custody battles like the one her family has waged for 13 years, but she couldn't believe it when she learned who was emailing the opposition leaders .
The Justice Files obtained an email from attorney Scott Wiser addressed to several members of the Legislature.
In the email he states: “I have no personal interest in the outcome of this legislation. Rather, I want to ensure that everyone involved in Utah’s family justice system is treated fairly through due process of law.”
Woman whose son was killed in murder-suicide at Sugar House appeals for support for 'Kayden's Law'
Court documents reveal that Wiser worked on Leah's custody case and supported her ex, Parth Gandhi. The Justice Files reached out to Wiser, who declined an interview but confirmed he was assigned to consult Gandhi during a custody review in 2021 and ended the email by writing, “The subsequent news story about what a year ago What later happened between them was a kick-in to the gut, as you can imagine.”
When Leah learned that Wiser was contacting lawmakers and urging them to vote against it, she was heartbroken.
Leah tried to move on and said she was thinking about what Om asked her when he was just 5 years old about the custody battle.
“When do the children have a chance to talk?”
Leah said it's now her job to give her son the voice he never had, like all other children, in the hope that this tragedy doesn't happen again.
HB 272 is based on a federal law also known as Kayden's Law, which commemorates a girl who was murdered by her father.
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