PHOENIX – House lawmakers advanced House Bill HB2665 on Monday after adopting a floor-style verbal amendment aimed at tightening the bill’s wording and addressing concerns that its original draft created an ambiguous new path to manslaughter liability based on “directed communication.”

HB2665, dubbed “Cade’s Law: If You See Something Say Something,” updates Arizona’s manslaughter statute for adults who intentionally provide “advice, or encouragement” that leads to a minor’s suicide, where the adult was aware of the minor’s intent. As introduced, the bill adds the concept of “directed communication,” defined broadly to include verbal, written, and electronic communications – including social media posts and text messages – where such communication is specifically addressed toward, or reasonably understood as directed toward, a minor who dies by suicide. The definition excludes “general public commentary, artistic expression, or the discussion of suicide or mental health” not specifically directed at the minor.

But committee questioning quickly focused on whether the new language was duplicative or, worse, unintentionally expansive.

AZ House Minority Whip Quantá Crews (D-26) raised concerns about teens trying to be supportive and whether outsiders could misread texts as “encouragement.” Representative and AG Candidate Alexander Kolodin (R-3) pressed for a concrete explanation of what new cases the bill was designed to reach if “advice or encouragement” already encompasses modern communications.

The bill’s sponsor, Vice Chair Pamela Carter (R-4), said the intent was to close perceived gaps for online platforms and chat rooms, pointing to scenarios involving adults targeting minors online and encouraging self-harm. At the same time, Rep. Kevin Volk (D-17) summarized the goal as making clear that the advice or encouragement counts “regardless of the communication medium,” including texts and social media.

Testimony featured Megan Keller, mother of 16-year-old Cade Keller, who said her son had posted videos stating what he planned to do and sent them to a group chat; she told lawmakers no one intervened, and some peers saved recordings. Morgan Hines, a licensed social worker and Teen Lifeline’s director of crisis services, warned that suicidal youth are developmentally vulnerable to the opinions of others, and that encouragement can reinforce hopelessness; she said Arizona had lost 43 children under 18 to suicide in 2024, while also noting the limits of available suicide data,  particularly as they related to social-media attribution.

The committee ultimately adopted a verbal amendment described on the record as re-centering the criminal conduct on “advice or encouragement,” clarifying that a perpetrator is not “off the hook because of the form that communication takes.” Kolodin says the tweak resolved drafting concerns by specifying the medium rather than creating a separate “directed communication” category.

HB2665 passed out of committee with 10 ayes, 4 present, and 1 absent. Several members voted “present” to preserve concerns about age thresholds (18 versus 21) and the risk, however unintended, of chilling peer-to-peer intervention conversations.