AUGUSTA – One thing could have saved her daughter from being beaten to death, a Presque Isle woman told a committee of elected state officials on Tuesday: a panic button.

Johna Lovely, the mother of Erin Sperrey, testified in front of the Legislature’s joint labor committee in favor of a bill that is intended to help make working conditions safer for Mainers whose jobs require that they work past the typical quitting time of 5 p.m. She said that if there had been a way to alert police of an emergency at the Tim Horton’s in Caribou where Sperrey was working last year, things may have turned out differently for her daughter.

“In my heart, I know that if there’d been a panic button, Erin would be alive today,” Lovely told the committee, which eventually will make a recommendation on whether the Legislature should vote to enact the proposed “Erin’s Law” in Maine.

Sperrey, 20, was working as a supervisor at the Caribou doughnut and coffee shop on the evening of Jan. 2, 2005, when she allegedly was beaten to death by a co-worker, whom police have identified as Christopher Shumway, now 20, of Caribou. Shumway remains in jail awaiting trial for murder. Lovely said Sperrey could have activated a panic button between the first stage of the fatal attack, which started in a storage freezer, and the final part of the assault that left Sperrey dying on a bathroom floor.

“Nothing we do in this state … can give me back my little girl,” Lovely said, pausing to stop as her voice choked with emotion. “I know the rest of my life will be dedicated to this cause regardless of the outcome [of the bill]”.

In an effort to help improve and advocate for workplace safety, Lovely said she and her family have established a nonprofit organization called Erin’s Fund.

Several others testified in favor of the bill, sponsored by Rep. Jeremy Fischer, D-Presque Isle, including advocates against domestic violence in Maine. Fischer, testifying first at the public hearing, told his fellow legislators he hoped that a task force will be appointed to look into the logistics of requiring businesses that are open past 5 p.m. to install panic buttons in the event their employees or customers are attacked.

Ned McCann of the AFL-CIO testified in favor of the bill, saying that the issue has become more pressing as work-related violence, particularly for convenience store clerks, has risen.

“It’s now the most dangerous work in America, more dangerous than driving a taxicab in New York City,” McCann said.

No one testified against the bill, but there were some concerns raised by people who said they neither favored nor opposed it.

Jim McGregor of the Maine Merchants Association said that law enforcement should be involved in the Legislature’s consideration of the bill to make sure that business managers don’t become de facto police officers as a result of increased security requirements. The layout of some businesses such as motels present problems of where to locate the mandated panic buttons, he said.

“Should there be a button in every room? Should there be a button in the lobby?” he asked to make his point.

Peter Gore of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, cautioned legislators against imposing safety requirements that may be more easily implemented by one type of affected business than another.

“Employers have a desire to keep their employees safe,” Gore said. “There may not be a one-solution fix to this question.”

Lovely had told the committee that the cost of installing security equipment, including a panic button, at one location, would be around $2,000 up front and then an additional $25 or so for each month thereafter. The owner of the Tim Horton’s franchise where Sperrey worked, who also owns three other Tim Horton’s stores in Aroostook County and four in New Brunswick, has installed panic buttons and associated security systems at all his Maine stores, she said.

No one who raised concerns about the bill said such costs are likely to be an issue. The legislative committee plans to hold a work session on the bill at 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, in Augusta.