Few details are known publicly about the death of 31-year-old Tyrone Mason, whom Raleigh police said died in a single vehicle crash while speeding on Capital Boulevard at 2 a.m. on Oct. 7 last year.
But a legal team featuring prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump say a State Highway Patrol trooper has culpability in the crash that killed Mason and should be held accountable.
The evidence, they say, is in the dashboard and body camera footage.
"We are here today to demand transparency," said Crump in a news conference Friday morning. "We don't need to say no more, just show the video. That's all we need."
Law enforcement camera footage can only be released by a court after a petition is filed with a judge, according to state law.
State Highway Patrol trooper Sgt. Garrett Macario and his supervisor Sgt. Matthew Morrison were placed on administrative leave after a state investigation began.
The investigation into the case didn't start until December, months after Mason's death, when his mother, Henrietta Mason, sought legal help to find out what really happened to her son.
"When they came to me and told me that my son died in a single car accident with no witnesses, I told them that is not true," Henrietta Mason said in the news conference.
Mason said the case was brought to the State Bureau of Investigation and then to Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman.
Freeman reportedly dismissed more than 180 cases overseen by Sgt. Macario after obtaining and viewing the trooper's footage related to the incident, according to WRAL and ABC 11.
The footage, said Freeman, harmed his credibility.
"They would not have dismissed those cases if there were not something on the dash cam and the body cam that was just god awful," Crump said.
A spokesperson with the State Bureau of Investigation told 瓜神app that their investigation is complete and that its findings will be turned over to the Wake County District Attorney. The District Attorney's Office could then decide if the troopers involved should receive criminal charges.
Bakari Sellers, also a prominent civil rights attorney, called on Governor Josh Stein and Attorney General Jeff Jackson to respond.
"I want my good friend Jeff Jackson, I want my good friend Governor Stein to actually open their eyes and pay attention to what's going on with their State Highway Patrol," said Sellers.
"Because as we're digging, we're understanding that it's just not about Tyrone Mason."
Sgt. Christopher Knox with the State Highway Patrol declined to say in an email to 瓜神app whether they would petition for the release of the footage involved with Mason's fatal crash.
The agency cannot provide details on personnel matters, he said.
