27-03-2025
Tighter control of apartment master keys moves forward in ‘Miya's Law'
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Controls on access to apartment complex master keys got even tighter Thursday as lawmakers passed changes to a bill requiring criminal background checks for employees with access to the keys.
'Miya's Law,' named for a 19-year-old Florida woman who was killed by an apartment maintenance worker in 2021, was passed by the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor. Senate Bill 114 (SB114) initially applied to complexes with 200 or more apartments. An amendment brought that down to 100 units as the bill was approved in a work session Thursday.
The bill also requires landlords to keep a log to account for the issuance and return of each key, along with written policies and procedures regarding their use.
During a bill hearing on Monday, Miya Marcano's mother and father urged Nevada lawmakers to make Nevada the third state to pass legislation that could have saved their daughter. Florida and Virginia already have similar laws.
'What happened to Miya is not just my personal tragedy. It's a public safety failure,' Miya's mother, Yma Scarbriel, said. 'No parent should have to go through what we went through. No family should have to bury their child because basic housing protections were not in place.'
Her father, Marlon Marcano, said, 'Let Miya's name represent action, not tragedy.'
The man who killed Miya had a criminal conviction involving the detonation of a bomb at a school, according to a representative of the Miya Marcano Foundation.
Lawmakers were reminded of a similar case in Nevada. In 1982, an 18-year-old student in Carson City was found dead in her apartment, a victim of strangulation. The case went unresolved until a DNA match in 1999 connected her death to David Mitchell, who worked at her apartment complex.
Sheila Jo Harris was the reigning Miss Douglas County when she was killed. She had moved from Gardnerville to Carson City to be closer to school. Harris was killed five days after she moved in.
SB114, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Julie Pazina, now advances to the full Senate for consideration.
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