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State Sen. Ed Jones has filed a bill that would bump up the penalty for second-degree murder.

The legislation was filed Thursday, a day after a Winston-Salem murder that became the impetus for the bill reached an apparent resolution in state court, Dan Kane reports.

According to the Winston-Salem Journal, Aaron Jarrett Jr., 40, was sentenced to a minimum of 31 years in prison for killing Philnando O'Neal.

Jarrett pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and armed robbery. He had originally been charged with first-degree murder, which could have resulted in life behind bars or a death sentence.

O'Neal's mother, Mary Lyons of Elizabeth City, had protested the plea deal after learning that a second-degree murder conviction could bring as little as just under eight years in prison. She spoke to Jones, a Halifax County Democrat, who agreed to boost the penalty for a conviction to a minimum of 12 years.

The N.C. Conference of District Attorneys supports the legislation, which representatives say could lead to fewer first-degree murder cases. A recent state Office of Indigent Defense Services report found that the cost of providing legal help to poor defendants has risen steeply in the last several years because prosecutors are leaving many murder cases open to the death penalty, despite the fact that few result in a death sentence.