A grieving North Texas mother turned pain into action following the death of her teenage son. Senate Bill 650, also known as the Deshawn Jagwan Act, requires the use of electronic verification of a person’s age before the retail sale of alcoholic beverages.
The Richardson mother’s emotional plea led state lawmakers in Austin to do something rare: fast-track approval of a bill changes the way you buy alcohol in Texas. “This is my first time in this amazing chamber and I’m begging you, do something,” Charlotte Stephens said to members of a state senate committee on Monday next to a photo of her son, Deshawn. The Richardson mother offered heart-wrenching details about the night in April 2022 when the 18-year-old died in a car wreck on prom night.
“Earlier that evening Deshawn walked into a convenience store and purchased high-content alcoholic drinks,” Stephens said. “No questions were asked, no ID was asked, nothing.” Stephens is advocating for a law that would require alcohol sellers to use electronic scanners to verify customers’ IDs in addition to inspecting them.
“This bill is a game changer,” said Stephens. “It’s too late for my son but it’s not too late for the next teenager that walks into a store to buy a drink.” Senators were so moved by Stephens’s testimony that they agreed to fast-track the bill and unanimously passed it out of committee. Stephens is back home where she works to raise awareness of cheap, high alcohol content, sugary drinks that she believes are too easily accessible to teenagers like her son, who she hopes will leave a legacy of saving the lives of others.
“You know, if as long as we continue to see and say his name, that his memory is here, it never fades,” Stephens said. “And that’s my mission.”
