North Carolina lawmakers are investigating the state’s COVID-era prison releases, reopening a fight over a policy that freed about 3,500 inmates over a 180-day period from February to August 2021. The review has put Roy Cooper back at the center of a debate over whether the state went too far when it agreed to expand early releases and parole reviews during the pandemic.
Digital reviewed data from the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission and found that more than 560 inmates released during the Cooper administration were later arrested on charges of new offenses within two years of their release. Among them was Tyrell Brace, who was later charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Elante Thompson in Charlotte. Brace had previously pleaded guilty to assault by strangulation and assault inflicting serious injury, along with felony larceny and breaking-and-entering convictions, and North Carolina Department of Public Safety Adult Correction records show he was released months earlier than originally scheduled.
Another case under scrutiny is Daron Owens, who was sentenced in federal court to 10 years in prison for possession of a firearm by a felon after a drive-by shooting months after his release left a victim with gunshot wounds. Owens was released a month early. The figures are being examined as North Carolina lawmakers revisit a 2020 lawsuit filed by the North Carolina NAACP, the ACLU and other groups, which argued that crowded prison conditions during the pandemic put inmates at unconstitutional risk. The plaintiffs initially pushed for the release of thousands more inmates, and the state settled in early 2021.
The settlement led to expanded early releases, parole reviews and other measures, but Republicans have long blasted it as one of the largest mass prisoner releases in the state’s history. A Roy Cooper campaign spokesperson called those attacks “blatant lies from Republicans,” while Republican Michael Whatley said, “Roy Cooper was a complete failure at keeping our communities safe,” adding that “Victims’ families deserve answers” and asking, “Why did Roy Cooper allow these dangerous criminals back on our streets?” Cooper’s campaign says he fought the releases in court, but the numbers now give the political fight sharper edges: more than 560 rearrests, two years of follow-up, and a set of cases that lawmakers are unlikely to let fade quietly.
