Alina Sheykhet was loved beyond words and brought light into the lives of many. She was a bright, vivacious, and talented young woman. Alina graduated from Montour High School in 2015 and attended the University of Pittsburgh to become a Doctor of Physical Therapy. Alina loved animals, children, and musical theatre.

In October of 2017, Alina lost her life to a senseless act of domestic violence. Her death was preventable. Alina’s killer was a repeat offender that was released on bail shortly before her death. Alina did not feel safe, so she obtained a Protection from Abuse (PFA) order against her ex-boyfriend. She was promised protection. On October 8th, 2017, Alina’s ex-boyfriend broke into her home and murdered her. She was found by her parents that morning.  

A bright, beautiful young woman lost her life despite doing everything legally recommended. Her death shook the community and exposed the flaws of Protection from Abuse (PFA) orders. We have since made it our mission to fill the gaps of PFAs and protect victims. 

Alina’s Law, Pennsylvania House Bill 1747, will protect victims of domestic violence by giving the court a mechanism to enforce orders for Protection from Abuse (“PFA”). Presently, a PFA is a court order that, if violated, can result in fines and imprisonment. However, nothing physically discourages a defendant from violating the order, and nothing guarantees that law enforcement will find out about a violation. Alina’s Law will create extra protections by allowing a judge presiding over PFA cases to evaluate whether the defendant is thought to present a substantial risk of (1) violating the PFA or (2) committing a crime against the victim punishable by imprisonment. Based on this assessment, the judge can affix the defendant with an electronic device. This device will notify the local police and the victim if the defendant violates the PFA by entering into an area from which he has been excluded by the order. This will allow the plaintiff to get to safety. Further, once the order is violated, the defendant’s location will be tracked until the police either contact the defendant, the police determine the defendant is no longer a threat, and/or they arrest the defendant.

Alina’s Law passed unanimously in the Senate in December of 2017. Since then, it has been stagnant in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. 

Alina is not the only young woman that suffered from the flaws of legal protection. In January of 2022, Rachel Dowden was shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend, the man that she obtained a PFA against. She sought help from the police to protect herself and was gunned down soon after. These beautiful young women have one major thing in common: they did everything right, yet the very system designed to protect them did everything but that.  

Another recent case occurred in Harrisburg. A man violated his PFA, was released from jail, and, upon release, murdered two people and injured two children. The threat of jail time or fines does not stop violent offenders from violating the order. 

According to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, there were 460 deaths from domestic violence from 2017 to 2020 in Pennsylvania alone. Since Alina’s death in 2017, almost 500 lives were lost to senseless, preventable violence. Domestic violence is an epidemic. If Alina’s Law was already active, some of these deaths may have been prevented. These staggering numbers will only rise if we continue to ignore the flaws of our legal protection system. 

That is the goal of Alina’s Law—to protect women like Alina. To protect women like Rachel. To protect women and men that are doing everything right, just to be failed by a flawed system.