Mother of man killed in crash involving NC trooper to sue Raleigh police
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Henrietta Mason plans to sue Raleigh police over son’s fatal 2024 crash.
- Probe found trooper and supervisor lied about pursuit before Mason’s death.
- Civil rights attorneys cite misconduct, emotional harm and lack of closure.
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Investigation into NC troopers after fatal crash
Tyrone Mason, 31, died after his car slammed into a concrete barrier on Capital Boulevard near Wake Forest Road in Raleigh the early hours of Oct. 7. A Highway Patrol trooper, after talking with his supervisor, did not immediately disclose that he had pursued Mason before the crash. Mason’s mother says she was told no officer chased her son before he died. What she learned on her own launched a state investigation into the officers’ behavior.
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Nearly two weeks after suing a North Carolina state trooper, the mother of a man who fatally crashed in Raleigh has announced her intention to also sue the city’s police department and an investigator.
Tyrone Mason, 31, died Oct. 7 after crashing his 2018 Chevrolet Malibu into a concrete barrier on Capital Boulevard near Wake Forest Road, The News & Observer previously reported.
State Trooper Garrett Macario had tried to pull Mason over moments before, but his supervisor was caught on video telling him not to reveal that information to the Raleigh police officers investigating the crash.
Henrietta Mason pushed for answers for months after the Police Department told her no one had chased her son before the wreck.
The State Bureau of Investigation ultimately conducted a probe, which found Macario and his supervisor, Sgt. Matthew Morrison, lied about the crash and which resulted in 180 pending cases being dismissed. Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, who dismissed the cases, chose not to file criminal charges against the men.
In a notice of claim filed Friday, Henrietta Mason alleged Freeman told her during a May 21 meeting that Raleigh police knew of Macario’s involvement about 30 minutes after arriving on the scene.
“RPD’s failure to provide Henrietta Mason with the truth regarding her son’s death has caused her significant mental and emotional distress, caused her to expend resources in search of the truth, and has caused the Mason family significant pain and lack of closure,” the notice states.
Prominent civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Bakari Sellers and Raleigh attorney Sean Cecil are representing Mason in the suit.
Mason intends to try to administratively resolve her claim first before officially suing the department and police investigator K.S. Spaulding, according to a news release.
This story was originally published June 9, 2025 at 5:04 PM.
