Rebecca Petty#Murder of Andria Brewer

{{Infobox officeholder

| name=Rebecca Dean Petty

| birth_date={{birth date and age|1970|4|13}}

| birth_place=Wichita, Kansas, U.S.

| residence=Rogers, Benton County
Arkansas, U.S.

| death_date=

| death_place=

| death_cause=

| resting_place=

| state_house=Arkansas

| district=94th

| term_start=January 2015

| term_end= January 11, 2021

| preceded=Debra Hobbs

| succeeded=John P. Carr

| party=Republican

| alma_mater=Hatfield (Arkansas) High School
Tulsa Community College

Arkansas Tech University

John Brown University

| occupation=Advocate for crime victims and exploited children

|spouse=

| children=

| footnotes=

}}

Rebecca Dean Petty (born April 13, 1970), also known as Rebecca DeMauro, is an American politician and activist from Rogers, Arkansas. After her 12-year-old daughter, Andria Brewer, was murdered in 1999, she became an advocate for victims of violent crime. She is also a former Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from the 94th district. The district she represented encompasses a part of Benton County in the northwest Arkansas, her adopted state.{{cite web|url=http://www.arkansashouse.org/member/377/Rebecca-Petty |title=Rebecca Petty |publisher=arkansashouse.org|accessdate=April 13, 2015}}

Background

Petty was born in Wichita, Kansas,{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/150277/rebecca-petty#.VSw-jcstEqR|title=Rebecca Petty's Biography|publisher=Project Vote Smart|accessdate=April 13, 2015}} and graduated in 1988 from Hatfield High School{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} in Hatfield, Arkansas. Petty also attended Tulsa Community College in Tulsa, Oklahoma and earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice in 2013 from Arkansas Tech University at Russellville, where she was inducted into the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society. She has since pursued a master's degree in leadership and ethics at the private John Brown University in Siloam Springs in Benton County.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Murder of Andria Brewer

On May 15, 1999, Rebecca Petty's 12-year-old daughter, Andria 'Andi' Brewer, was reported missing near Mena, Arkansas. According to court filings, local police called the Arkansas State Police and the FBI after deeming it unlikely that Brewer had run away. On May 17, a polygraph test of two suspects by the State Police yielded a confession from one, Karl Roberts, Brewer's paternal uncle.{{Cite web |title=ROBERTS v. STATE (2003) |url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ar-supreme-court/1274287.html |website=FindLaw}} Roberts admitted to taking Brewer from her home in his red pickup truck, driving her to nearby woods, raping her, strangling her, and then hiding the body.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

On May 24, 2000, Roberts was sentenced to death and as of 2020 he remains on death row.{{Cite web |title=Karl Roberts, who sexually abused and murdered his 12-year-old niece, alive and well 20 years after conviction |url=https://meaww.com/karl-roberts-sexual-abuse-murder-niece-andi-brewer-alive-well-20-years-after-conviction |access-date=2023-10-21 |website=MEAWW |language=en}} While Rebecca Petty advocated for the death penalty for Roberts in the decades following her daughter's murder, she later wrote an article for The Forgiveness Project saying that she had forgiven him.{{Cite web |last=davewilkinson |title=Rebecca DeMauro |url=https://www.theforgivenessproject.com/stories-library/rebecca-demauro/ |access-date=2023-10-21 |website=The Forgiveness Project |language=en-GB}}

Petty's experience led her to write articles on WattPad. She later published a book about the murder, Stolen, in July 2023.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Career

From 2000 to 2008, Petty was the executive director of The Andi Foundation for Children. Since 2009, she has been a Crime Victim/Child Advocate consultant for the National Criminal Justice Training Center at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wisconsin. She is a founding member of the Surviving Parents Coalition, a group which advocates for laws preventing violence against children.{{Cite web |title=Welcome to the Surviving Parents Coalition Web Site |url=http://www.spcoalition.org/index.html |access-date=2023-10-21 |website=www.spcoalition.org}} Petty also works with the United States Department of Justice on training for Amber Alerts. She advocates "keeping our children safe from sexual predators by equipping our police with the tools they need to put criminals behind bars."

Petty is active in the Benton County Republican Party. In the low-turnout primary on May 20, 2014, she defeated Margaret "Marge" Wolf (born c. 1937), a former Wisconsin resident, a member of the Rogers City Council, and the president of the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.{{cite web|url=http://5newsonline.com/2014/02/06/child-advocate-rebecca-petty-seeks-state-house-seat/|title=Child Advocate Rebecca Petty Seeks State House Seat|author=Larry Henry|date=February 6, 2014|publisher=KFSM-TV|location=Fort Smith, Arkansas|accessdate=April 13, 2015}} Petty polled 878 votes (55.3 percent) to Wolf's 710 (44.7 percent). The House seat was vacated by the term-limited Debra Hobbs, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor; Hobbs was defeated by Tim Griffin, the former U.S. representative for Arkansas's 2nd congressional district. Petty carried the endorsement of State Senator Bart Hester of Cave Springs.

In the November 4 general election, Petty defeated the Democratic nominee, Grimsley Graham (born c. 1948), an English teacher at Rogers High School for thirty years,{{cite web|url=http://5newsonline.com/2014/10/22/graham-petty-square-off-in-rogers-state-house-race/|title=Graham, Petty Square Off in Rogers State House Race|date=October 22, 2014|author=Ellen Thalls|publisher=KFSM-TV|accessdate=April 13, 2015}} 3,508 votes (57.8 percent) to 2,565 (42.2 percent), in a heavily Republican year statewide and nationally.{{cite web|url=http://ballotpedia.org/Arkansas_House_of_Representatives_elections,_2014|title=District 94|publisher=ballotpedia.org|accessdate=April 13, 2015}}

Representative Petty held these committee assignments:

Vice-chair of the House Judiciary Committee;
Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative, and Military Affairs; and
House Rules Committee.

In January 2015, Petty proposed legislation before the House Judiciary Committee to allow families of murder victims to witness the executions of the convicted criminals so as to gain some closure to their grief.{{cite web|url=http://5newsonline.com/2015/01/29/rep-petty-presents-bill-to-allow-crime-victim-families-to-watch-executions-in-person/|title=Rep. Petty Presents Bill To Allow Crime Victim Families To Watch Executions In Person|date=January 29, 2015|author=Curt Lanning|publisher=KFSM-TV|accessdate=April 13, 2015}} The legislation passed both houses and was soon signed into law by Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson. The next month Petty proposed legislation to allow executions in Arkansas by firing squad.{{cite web|url=http://5newsonline.com/2015/02/26/firing-squad-execution-bill-proposed-by-arkansas-rep/|title=Mother of Slain Child Proposed Firing Squad Execution Bill|publisher=KFSM-TV|author=Curt Lanning|date=February 26, 2015|accessdate=April 13, 2015}}

In February 2015, Petty joined dozens of her fellow Republicans and two Democrats in co-sponsoring legislation submitted by Representative Lane Jean of Magnolia to reduce unemployment compensation benefits. The measure was signed into law by Governor Hutchinson.{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/bill/19578/51495/129425/reduces-unemployment-benefits#.VR3Zr_l4rGY|title=HB 1489 - Reduces Unemployment Benefits - Key Vote|publisher=Project Vote Smart|accessdate=April 12, 2015}}

The same month, she supported House Bill 1228—sponsored by Bob Ballinger of Carroll County—which sought to prohibit government from imposing a burden on the free exercise of religion.{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/bill/19610/51617/141580/prohibits-government-from-burdening-exercise-of-religion#.VSl8TsstEqQ|title=HB 1228|publisher=Project Vote Smart|accessdate=April 11, 2015}} The measure passed the House seventy-two to twenty. One of the opponents, Representative Camille Bennett, a former city attorney for Lonoke, Arkansas, called for a reworking of the legislation.{{cite web|url=http://www.atlanticbb.net/news/read/category/General/article/the_associated_press-indiana_arkansas_try_to_stem_religious_objections-ap|title=Indiana, Arkansas try to stem religious objections uproar|publisher=Atlantic Broadband|date=April 3, 2015|accessdate=April 14, 2015|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20150414161145/http://www.atlanticbb.net/news/read/category/General/article/the_associated_press-indiana_arkansas_try_to_stem_religious_objections-ap|archivedate=April 14, 2015}} Bennett claimed the Ballinger bill would establish a "type of religious litmus test" which could impact nearly any law under consideration by the legislature.{{cite web|url=http://www.fox16.com/story/d/story/opponents-of-religious-freedom-bill-point-out-law/24249/AsrrUGLEdkuquASB01ZrLA|title=Opponents of Religious Freedom Bill Point Out Law Differences, Possible Unintended Consequences|publisher=Fox Channel 16|location=Little Rock, Arkansas|date=April 1, 2015|accessdate=April 14, 2015}} The measure was subsequently passed by a large margin in the House and signed into law in revised form, SB 975, by Governor Hutchinson.{{cite web|url=http://www.thv11.com/story/news/local/2015/04/02/house-committee-passes-new-rfra-bill-headed-for-full-house/70828864/|title=Gov. Hutchinson signs revised religious freedom bill; HB 1228 recalled|publisher=KTHV-TV|location=Little Rock|date=April 2, 2015|accessdate=April 14, 2015}}

Petty did not run for reelection in 2020 and left the Arkansas House in January 2021.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Personal life

Petty lists her religious affiliation as a non-denominational Christian. She is married to her third husband, William. She has two surviving daughters and two grandchildren.

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