09/01/2026
๐ช๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ก ๐๐ง ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข ๐จ๐ก๐๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ฅ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ง๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ - ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ก ๐๐ข๐ก๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข?
When a ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ต ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป๐ท๐๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐, uncovering what actually happened can be an agonizingly slow process. Families can spend years fighting systems that have far more resources, legal protections, and knowledge of the process than they do.
๐ญ. ๐ฆ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐
Records can be delayed, denied, redacted, withheld under legal exemptions, or require court action to obtain.
๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐.
๐ฎ. ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐น ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐
Government agencies and employees may have legal protections and defenses that can make accountability extremely difficult even after serious failures are uncovered.
๐ฏ. ๐๐ป๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐น๐ณ-๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Government agencies have powerful incentives to limit liability and protect the institution. ๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐, ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐, ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฑ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐บ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป.
๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฟ๐, ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ณ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
๐ฐ. ๐๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐บ๐๐ฒ๐น๐๐ฒ๐
Initial reviews are often conducted within the same governmental or professional systems whose actions are being questioned.
๐ง๐ฟ๐๐น๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ป๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ - ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป, ๐บ๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ.
๐ฑ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฟ๐๐๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ
A video contradicts a report. A timestamp raises another question. An expert identifies something the family never knew to look for. One record leads to anotherโand obtaining each new piece can take ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐.
๐ฒ. ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด
Most families begin with no legal, medical, investigative, or public-records expertise. They have to learn an enormously complicated system while grieving someone they love.
Colton died in ๐๐๐ด๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฎ. I wasn't able to view the body-camera footage and see what actually happened at that scene until ๐๐๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ - ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ.
๐ฆ๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐๐ต๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐: ๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ต?
๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐?
๐ช๐ต๐ผ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐
๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐?
๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ถ๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ณ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ ๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ?
Davidson County, NC - Government
NC Department of Health and Human Services
NC Department of Justice and Attorney General's Office
Jeff Jackson
Governor Josh Stein
North Carolina State Highway Patrol
