Family And Ben Crump Demand Answers In Tyrone Mason’s Death, Suspect Police Involvement In North Carolina Car Crash

The family of Tyrone Mason and attorney Benjamin Crump are searching for answers related to Mason's crash last year.

The family of Tyrone Mason and attorney Benjamin Crump are searching for answers related to Mason’s crash in October and to that end, Crump called for the release of dash and body camera footage from the crash in Wake County, North Carolina, on March 14, following reports that the officer who responded had almost 200 cases he worked on dismissed in January.

According to NBC News, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman placed both trooper Garrett Macario and his supervisor, Sgt. Matthew Morrison on leave after the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation requested that Freeman investigate the car accident further.

In January, Freeman indicated in comments to WRAL that the footage, which has not been released to the public, is disturbing.

“This is concerning to us, and it’s disturbing, but we are committed to doing things the right way,” Freeman said. “We believe credibility among law enforcement officers is essential to the work that we do. We need and have to trust officers. Frankly, when we can’t, it’s disgusting.”

This, along with the dismissal of the cases, seemed to indicate to Crump that there is more to the accident than is currently being shared, which he told reporters at a news conference in Raleigh, North Carolina.

“Let me be clear today, that we know something happened here that is more than they are telling us. They wouldn’t have dismissed those cases if there was not something on that video, from the dash cam and the body cam that was just God awful,” Crump said. “Just show the video.”

Crump continued, “We know that there was a lie from day one when they told her her son died as a result of a single-car accident. When we’re here today, it’s to demand transparency. You don’t need to say no more — just show the video.”

Henrietta Mason, Tyrone’s mother, said following the news conference that she has long believed that the account that her son was in a one car accident never added up to her.

“I never thought my baby would leave this world before me,” Mason said. “From Day 1, when they came to me and told me my son died in a single-car accident with no witnesses, I told them that is not true, someone had to be chasing my son.”

According to NC Newsline, the advocacy of Mason concerning what she believed about the death of her son is what attracted the attention of Crump and another civil rights attorney, Bakari Sellers.

Mason sent hundreds of emails to various government agencies before going to Freeman’s office and sharing her concerns, which led to the inquiry from the State Bureau of Investigations.

Sellers also called on North Carolina’s Governor Josh Stein to open an investigation into the state highway patrol as he believes that Mason’s case is one of many similar cases.

Sellers and Crump are expected to file a lawsuit related to Mason’s death in the coming days, likely to be related to the fact that Macario and Morrison lied and said that Mason died in an accident with no police pursuit.

Mason, meanwhile, pleaded with reporters through tears that someone needs to be held accountable for the death of her son.

“I never thought my baby would leave this world before me,” she said at the news conference. “All that we ask is that everyone come together and get justice for my son, Tyrone Mason.”