It's 504 and welcome in to a Friday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM. WBT, I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you. We start off the program this morning with what was an explosive hearing in Raleigh on Thursday lasting more than eight hours and 20 minutes as both state and local officials from Mecklenburg County were grilled by the North Carolina House Oversight Committee over the death of six-year-old Dominique Moody. This has been a major story across the state of North Carolina.
Moody, just six years old, weighing just 27 pounds when she was found dead in a home in Charlotte in late December of 2025. Despite staffing changes, internal reviews, and promised corrective action plans, state lawmakers left the committee visibly frustrated after hearing of the repeated warning signs that were missed. as it relates to the death of that six year old. Representative Alan Shesser, the Republican from Nash County, chaired the, as I mentioned, more than eight hour and twenty minute meeting in Raleigh on Thursday. He had a pretty blunt opening as it related to the situation.
There's a pattern here. A child dies, and the Department of Health and Human Services investigates, finds a lack of oversight, poor decision making, and poor management. And the local child protective services office is putting on a corrective action plan. and the state takes over for a little while. but fundamentally nothing changes.
Dominic Moody's death could have been prevented. But let me say that again. This was a preventable death that occurred because of inaction. That was a very common thread throughout the entire meeting that all of this was preventable. And with all of the details that came out, with all of the back and forth questioning between lawmakers and officials at both state DHS, local law enforcement, which included the Mecklenburg County Sheriff and CMPD police chief, and local officials, including the Mecklenburg County Manager and the head of the Department of Public Safety in Mecklenburg, Representative Heather Ryan read through.
She is the Republican from Lincoln County, read through an internal report within Charlotte that claimed that the department was actually doing a great job. Listen to this. In its fiscal year 2026 budget, your county's budget office graded your Child Protective Services Division. The one responsible for Dominic Moody. They used numbers from october twentieth of last year.
She died eight weeks later.
So, this is how your county scored this department while she was starving. Let me read it to you. Your county graded how often children It already knows are being hurt or hurt again. The state calls it recurrence of maltreatment. And I'm going to quote Your own document.
so that there is no confusion about whose words these are. Recurrence of maltreatment is also below state targets. Although the county is performing only slightly worse, than other large metropolitan areas. End quote. Let me make that plain for the committee.
Your county is failing children, and your county's own explanation for failing is that you are. only slightly worse than other big cities. That is Representative Heather Rine, the Republican from Lincoln County, quoting some internal documents within Mecklenburg County about its child protective services department. Representative Mike Scheetzelt, the Republican from Wake County, said: This is unfortunately a common thread as it relates to accountability and trust in government and its entities. Even just from the exterior.
There were holes in the roof, there were holes in the wall that led from the inside to the outside. These sorts of things, if they did lead to the outside, should have been observable. from the outside. I'm gonna confess a little mounting frustration. today as we've had these discussions.
that there seems to be a lot of willingness to shirk responsibility. And to try to place the blame on someone else or. Circle the wagons. and say, hey, we don't accept any responsibility for this. DHHS didn't accept responsibility for this.
Our law enforcement agencies are. You know, trying to trying to say, hey, we only went to the house or we didn't observe anything. There were flashing red signs that should have been that should have tipped people off, that something was not right here. And I know every time we come into oversight. I I always seem to get on a soap box about Um public trust and confidence.
in our government and in our government institutions. This sort of bureaucratic morass over accountability. is why people don't have trust. in government institutions. This is why people have a hard time believing anything anyone says when it comes out of.
a government official's mouth. At some point. There are a lot of people who need to accept at least some modicum of responsibility. for what happened. to this six-year-old girl.
Most of us don't Wake up one day It is not a common experience to find a dead six-year-old child in a dog crate in a home. There's a lot that fell through the cracks here. This passed through a lot of people's hands, and a lot of people need to accept responsibility for this. That's the voice of Representative Mike Scheetzel, grilling officials in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County over the death of six-year-old Dominique Moody. Continuing the thread that was very common throughout the eight-plus-hour committee meeting in Raleigh on Thursday, that there were so many warning signs that should have been so easily caught by either law enforcement or child protective services officials that made multiple visits to the home.
Representative Brian Echevera, the Republican from Cabarris County, read through a sworn police affidavit recounting what the situation looked like the day in mid-December of 2025 when law enforcement showed up to a home in Charlotte and found the six-year-old dead.
Well, just a quick warning on this: some pretty graphic descriptions of what exactly went on at that period. of time.
So they on Tuesday, December 16th, 2025. At about 7.40 in the morning, they responded to an assist medic call for service at the Gwynwill The the Gwyn Hill Road house where they found A six-year-old. The residence is a three-bedroom residence. It was extremely unkempt with strong odor of feces and urine. The residence was cluttered, and numerous rats were scurrying through it.
The residents had a mixture of animal and human feces. throughout. Seven different reports. came to your office since 2022. Several holes leading to the exterior of the residence were also located in the floor and ceiling.
During your reports, you made Mecklenburg County referred The family for a child medical exam, even though they unsubstantiated the Report. On another one, Based on the assessment, the county concluded in 24 that child protective services were not. Needed. I'm pretty certain the holes didn't get in the floor. I would imagine that all the feces.
both human and animal didn't get there after your visit. The oven in the residence was also located in the floor, excuse me, the oven in the kitchen, a space heater in the living room, and space heater in the bedroom were the only sources of heat. There was no centralized heat. The space heater in the living room set on a concrete block on the floor, pointed toward a cot in front of the couch. The heater was about two minutes from the couch.
The victim The reason we're here Was identified by her guardian, Tanya McKnight, as six-year-old Dominique Moody. The victim's hair, nails, and body were dirty. She had open wounds and scarring in various stages of healing covering most of her body. The victim was extremely small and reported by hospital staff to weigh only. 27 pounds.
This is an officer's affidavit. She had a heeled ligature mark going all the way around her right ankle and linear heeled scars on top of her right arm. on top of her right foot. and outer right leg were healed circular scars. The victim had an open circular wound on the outer left ankle, which appeared to be a burn.
She had various minor wounds on her knees, face, arms, and legs. The most significant injuries were detected to her genitalia and buttocks. The skin on the inner thighs, genitalia, hips, and buttocks were darkened and wrinkled with numerous fresh wounds. She also had wounds in various stages of healing. on her upper thighs.
and hips. And then it goes into the medical examiner's report and the fact that there were other kids there. Your department oversaw that. Seven reports Since twenty-two. Your department oversaw that.
Seven reports. Since twenty-two. Two reports in 24. One report in 23. Thirteen reports total.
The state says the only way You guys didn't know about the history. was because you didn't look at it. That's what the state says. The state says you didn't do your job. and look at the history.
or you would have seen The abuse. That's Representative Brian Echeveria, the Republican from Cabarris County, reading through a sworn police affidavit that was filed by law enforcement that showed up in mid-December of 2025 and unfortunately found six-year-old Dominique Moody unresponsive at the scene, highlighting the disgusting conditions within the House, highlighting some of the bruising and scarring and injuries that that six-year-old was facing, really highlighting an incredibly disturbing situation in Charlotte in mid-2020 and late 2025. We'll have more from this explosive hearing in Raleigh coming up here in just a couple of minutes. Wallet feeling light after the holidays, recovery starts with TikTok slash and free. Pick products, share the link, and watch the price drop to zero.
Download TikTok, search slash free, and start slashing today. 521. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT continuing coverage of an explosive hearing in Raleigh on Thursday as officials from Mecklenburg County and state officials from the Department of Health and Human Services were hauled in front of the House Oversight Committee, a nearly eight-hour, eight-and-a-half-hour meeting where those officials were testifying on the death of six-year-old Dominique Moody in Mecklenburg County in December of 2025. With lawmakers visibly frustrated over all of the warning signs that were missed by local officials and law enforcement that made dozens of visits to the house and to the property in which Moody was living over the span of multiple years, the Mecklenburg County manager in Micah Bryant spoke to lawmakers about a DHHS corrective report that he says showed that things were. going well, pretty well in the agency.
When I met with uh D H H S on May 20th. when they shared with me, sir, the results from their assessment. The feedback was very balanced. And this is not for me to dismiss a single opportunity that they identified. I want to be clear.
But we met with them They highlighted several things that we're doing well. And part of their process is to read verbatim. The letter. That they intend to send to us via email and certified mail as well.
So they said, Mr. Bryant, I'm going to read to you the letter. that we are about to send to you. First, they called out several strengths. things that we're doing well in Mecklenburg County.
And then they close with these opportunities as well.
Now They're professionals. I'm not challenging their integrity. But I'm very baffled. when the letter that we get. is not consistent.
Well what they read to us verbatim. as well. But what they also concluded on multiple occasions. They cited their confidence. that the plan that we put in place to respond to their findings My internal investigation findings, and the third-party findings.
They said they are very confident. that we can get this back on the road. That's why you should be confident, sir. That's the Mecklenburg County manager, Representative Mike Sheetzelt. The Republican from Wake County was not taking that answer very well.
He lit up the Mecklenburg County manager. I'm sorry, I don't buy that explanation, Mr. Bryant, because honestly, the reason that we are here. And the reason that letter was necessary? It's because a six-year-old girl was found dead in a dog crate.
In your county. That is unacceptable. And not only was she found dead in a dog crate, she was found dead in a dog crate after years of reports that went. uninvestigated and unheeded. That is not acceptable.
Why are you receiving it? Excuse me.
Sorry, Mr. Bryant. The time belongs to the member, and this is my time. You had your opportunity to try to contextualize this letter and explain it away in bureaucratic language. I do not accept that.
This young woman is is dead. Because of the Malfeasance or misfeasance of the department, the failure to heed years of reports.
So I'm grateful that there was a balanced report from DHHS, but we're not here to talk about the strengths, we're here to talk about why a child is dead. and dead in a gruesome and avoidable way. Most of the committee meetings surrounded again, all of the warning signs, all of the reports, all of the visits to the property in which six-year-old Dominique Moody was eventually found dead. Representative Carla Cunningham, the newly unaffiliated representative from Mecklenburg County, stressed that in all of the discussion and all of the back and forth and no data, no back and forth between various departments, she was frustrated by that. You're telling me She was here since 2019.
We had 59 interactions with CMPD. We had 13 CPS. Over that period of time. And if you break it down by the last four years, CMPD or some interaction took place 16 times a year. 16 times a year.
And nobody was triggered. That's not reasonable.
Now I noticed also inside of the documents That several referrals were made to outside organizations. And steal. No information or documentation was sent back or requested. from DSS. That's not acceptable.
If you make a referral to an organization, and I'm an expected director. Um You know, if you make a referral, To another organization before you substantiate or unsubstantiate findings, you should get those results back. before you make a finding. Because you're looking for the outcomes. And if you ask people to do something that have the custody of a vulnerable child.
And they don't do it, something else should happen, or some other procedure or policy needs to be put in place. Because that's what you're looking for. is the outcome of saving the life. Not just to write it on a piece of paper and check it off. But that is done.
And so I have a huge issue with the referrals because I hadn't seen one document that said we requested nobody said today in this committee that we made a referral and we got results back. And then we substantiated or unsubstantiated. Nobody said that in here. That's Representative Carla Cunningham, the unaffiliated representative from portions of Mecklenburg County, with all of the warning signs, all of the red flags that were evident and obvious in this situation. The chairman of the committee, Representative Alan Chester, asked the question pretty bluntly: are your employees actually going and doing their job?
How do you guys verify that the reports that are provided to you are accurate. How do you verify? that when a worker says they're going out to or do a visit, but that actually happens.
So that would be through the GPS in the cars. They have notes that document the visits that they. Make those kinds of things regular supervisory sessions and that kind of oversight.
So, when I met with you in April, I recommended that to you. You said that that technology was available to you. I asked for that information to be provided to us. It has not yet been provided to us. And so, you still don't have any proof.
That is actually being done. You're just using the same reasoning that it can be done. I'm asking, is it being done, and when will this committee be able to prove that it was actually performed?
So, as I understand it, the records for the technology in those cars is good for two years, or they purge it every in a two-year cycle.
So, if you're asking for the records, For those the period of time that we still have that hasn't been purged, we can provide those to you. Um It would have been more appropriate to get it earlier with a two-year window on it, with a two-year shelf life, when we're talking about a case where a little girl died in December of last year. the window is closing for those those records to be purged. That's Representative Alan Chester chaired the eight-hour and 20-minute meeting in Raleigh. I'm going to take those records to be purged.
That's Representative Alan Chester chaired the eight-hour and 20-minute meeting in Raleigh on Thursday. We'll have more from this hearing coming up in just a couple of minutes. It's 5:37. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT. We are continuing our coverage of an explosive hearing in Raleigh on Thursday as state and local officials were hauled in front of the House's Oversight Committee to discuss how so many things fell through the cracks that led to the death of six-year-old Dominique Moody in Mecklenburg County in mid-December of 2025.
From what we've heard so far, lawmakers seemingly beside themselves over what were warning sign after warning sign as it related to this situation. The chairman of the committee, Representative Alan Shesser, asked if people within the DHS department in Mecklenburg County are breaking the law and not following the law. I have seen not to disparage anyone. But I've seen what feels like an effort to withhold to protect. An organization, a county, I don't know.
Uh And it seems like a lot more effort is going into protecting information from becoming public. then went into protecting the child at the center of this. Let me ask a clarifying question. Do you believe that any laws have been broken by your department or the members of your department.
So If a failure to follow statute is breaking the law, then the answer would have to be So the questions okay. We've been advised legally not to respond to that.
Sorry. I mean, it seems like a fairly simple question. I would say that, yes, a failure to follow statute would constitute breaking the law. Is that applicable to anyone? Did you discover that to be applicable to anyone in your internal investigation?
We followed our policy. Did you follow the law? I'm sorry. I apologize. I'm confirmed with my attorney.
to make sure that I speak to that. What I've been advised is we followed the law to the best of our abilities. That's my response here.
So your internal investigation did not include any times at which you did not adhere to statute? And there are no employees that have been disciplined for violations of statute or any action that would be expected to be done per statute. This was not what happened. They were disciplined for not following county policy, as I stated earlier. Did you investigate whether or not they followed state statute?
Was that part of your internal investigation or did you guys just ignore the law there? Thank you. Yeah, I believe that the HR investigation, which was an independent investigation, was done relative to our internal policies and the guidelines that we follow when we're delivering social work practice. Representative Chesler then went on to read some of the laws and some of the state statute that is on the books here in North Carolina as it relates to individuals that have information or knowledge of child abuse and neglect, lighting up those officials. But let me be clear.
Failure to report crimes against juveniles. That's a law. Requirements: Any person 18 years of age or older who knows or should have reasonably known that a juvenile has been the victim of a violent crime or violent offense. Um Or misdemeanor child abuse under this section shall immediately report the case. You guys have already said that you did not.
You have people who did not make proper criminal referrals. Have any of them been referred for criminal charges? Fourteen dash three one eight point six. fourteen dash two three zero. Wilfully failing to discharge duties.
It's essentially, I'll let you guys look it up, but essentially any. government official that fails to discharge their duties. We already established that you guys have a duty to report, correct? Yes. It's a Class I misdemeanor.
7B301 duty report abuse neglect. and death due to maltreatment. That might be the only one you guys got right. Once. Because what I have seen and what I have witnessed and what I have knowledge of.
It's heartbreaking. It's unacceptable. and children are at risk. Because people aren't allowed to talk about it. You hide behind the law.
while violating the law. And then had the audacity to call me. mister Bryant, and tell me you're disappointed in me.
Some very strong words there from Representative Alan Chesser, the Republican from Nash County that oversaw the eight-hour and 20-plus-minute committee hearing in Raleigh on Thursday. Representative Brendan Jones, the Republican from Columbus County, joined the meeting late and called the officials, frankly, incompetent. If you had a remote responsibility, ma'am, if you had a remote responsibility for that child. Weighing 27 pounds with rat bites on her body, with open contusions, with bruising. living on fecal matter.
You shouldn't be sitting in here today. It's inhumane what this child went through. And how you can sit here today and even be As calm and collected as you're being in the few moments I've gotten to see you is just baffling. I mean, the tears should be streaming down your face. Either you don't care Or you're incompetent?
I don't know which one. But I had to come in here and say my peace as a father. of what I got to witness. and what this child went through. If you were deputy director and you had your hands on this in any way whatsoever, if you knew about it in any way whatsoever.
I think you should be down in the Mecklenburg jailhouse yourself. Because I think you're just as much responsible if you're the overseer. And you're letting people out in the field not do their job. How many more Dominiques is it going to take? How many more babies have to die?
Before you say, okay, maybe I'm in the wrong role. Maybe I'm incompetent. I don't know what I'm doing. That's the voice of Representative Brendan Jones, the majority leader in the North Carolina House, who was not part of the vast majority of the committee meeting as budget negotiations continue and take place in Raleigh. Representative Alan Chester, the chair of this committee, had a lengthy closing comment period where he visibly was frustrated with what he had heard over the previous eight hours.
That's the problem. The inaction. The freezing when people are counting on you to respond. That's the ultimate failure here. is the doing of nothing.
Yeah. That's the ultimate failure here. is the doing of nothing. When the doing of something is required. I have a close statement written that I don't even know if I can read right now.
I'm I tend to be well in control of my facilities and my temper. And I'm losing that right now. And I apologize. But I think it's incredibly necessary and appropriate. If you will not commit.
to having people sent For legal evaluation in the case, the investigation you've done. for charges I call on DA Merriweather to do it. There should be people held to account, and I believe there are people at that table that should be held to account. For the criminal neglect that has been shown in this case. and other cases which is proof proven by the DHHS report.
If I assist. In the commission of a crime, I am culpable. I've already read you three different statutes that make reference to failure to do your job. And we keep hearing we had no involvement since February of 2014. As if it's a get out of jail free card.
And if D.A. Merriweather reads the law the same way I do, you better hope it is. What was your position, Ms. Loadholt, in 2024? That's Representative Alan Cheser, the Republican from Nash County, chairing this very lengthy, very heated committee meeting in Raleigh on Thursday, grilling state and local officials over the death of six-year-old Dominique Moody, who was found in horrific living conditions with signs of neglect and abuse.
When she was found unresponsive by law enforcement in mid-2025, she weighed just 27 pounds. I suspect this is not the last we are going to hear about this from lawmakers in Raleigh. We'll have continuing coverage over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, and right here on the Carolina Journal NewsHour. Good morning again. It's 552.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT, following some other statewide news this morning. North Carolina auditor, state auditor Dave Bollick says that he and his office plans to audit the Opportunity Scholarship Program. That's the state's popular voucher program that now serves roughly 107,000 students at the cost of around $587 million a year. Bollock, a first-term Republican, told the Assembly, which first reported the audit that the program had surfaced in his office's risk analysis and that he hoped to publish findings coming up later this year in the fall. Bollock told the Assembly in part, one of the things that we want to look at are new tranches of money from a risk analysis and the opportunity scholarship program fits within that.
We certainly would like to. Be able to have an audit complete of the opportunity scholarship program in due course. When that is actually going to happen, will depend on the amount of work that is required and the schedule of the professional teams. A spokesperson for the auditor's office, in a statement recently to the Raleigh News and Observer, said that the program falls within our scope alongside the school districts, state agencies, universities, and local governments that the office routinely examines. The voucher program has grown substantially since lawmakers first created it all the way back in 2013 to help students from low-income families leave low-performing public schools and attend a private school in their area.
The Republican-led legislature made the program universally available beginning with the 24-25 school year, meaning that all families, regardless of income, are eligible to participate.
However, those dollar amounts and scholarship amounts. are doled out on what is called a sliding scale that gives significantly larger vouchers to lower-income families across North Carolina. Each scholarship is worth between $3,500 and nearly $8,000 each year, spread across four income tiers, ranging from families making $61,000 a year to the highest cutoff being more than $274,000 for a family of four. According to Dr. Bob Lubke, the director of the Center for Effective Education at the John Locke Foundation, he says advocates of the Opportunity Scholarship Program welcome a proper audit of the program, saying that it is important for parents, schools, and the public to know that the North Carolina Education Assistance Authority is administering the program fairly and efficiently.
The review could create friction within Bolick's own party as Republican lawmakers have repeatedly turned aside Democrat proposals to expand the program's reporting requirements. There is no public data as it stands right now on how voucher students perform on standardized tests. The audit comes amid a sustained Democratic effort across the state of North Carolina to scale back the program. In Governor Josh Stein's recommended budget, which was released back in the month of April, he suggested imposing a moratorium on new scholarships and cap eligibility at roughly $90,000 a year for a family of four, a change that Carolina Journal reported would remove an estimated $60,000 from the program's current recipients. A state report presented to the State Board of Education in May found that more than 12,000 students used the Opportunity Scholarship Program to leave public schools over the past two years, with the largest share coming from the middle-income tier.
In which the cap, in which Governor Josh Stein proposed, would get rid of. Democrat state lawmakers have mounted their own efforts to cut the program. In early May, four House Democrats in Raleigh filed a bill to cut nearly $400 million from the scholarship over two years and redirect that money to childcare subsidies. The Democrat-controlled State Board of Education has also asked lawmakers to freeze new awards and steer money to public schools. With all of this, recent polling has shown continued strong support for the Opportunity Scholarship or Voucher Program.
We ran a poll back in the month of January that put support for the Opportunity Scholarship Program at nearly two-thirds of likely voters. Very strong numbers across all sorts of party lines and demographic makeups. We will be awaiting this audit from the auditor's office in the coming months as any agency that does receive state dollars is eligible for an audit from the state auditor. We'll keep you up to date with the details over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com and right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. That's going to do it for a Friday edition.
WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning BT. We're back with you Monday morning, 5 to 6, right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT.
