Civil rights lawyers joins family of man killed in suspicious car crash for Raleigh news conference

RALEIGH, N.C (WTVD) -- Prominent civil rights lawyers Ben Crump and Bakari Sellers joined the family of Tyrone Mason on Friday morning in downtown Raleigh for a news conference.

Mason was killed in a suspicious car crash on Capital Boulevard back in October. His family is looking for answers after the actions of state troopers investigating that night have been called into question.

"I never thought my baby would leave this world before me," Henrietta Mason, Tyrone's mother, said during the conference. "I love my baby. My baby leaves behind five kids, one in heaven with him."

Following the 2024 crash, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman discovered that Trooper Garrett Macario, who investigated the incident, gave false and misleading information to Raleigh police.

She told ABC11 in January that she had no choice but to dismiss the case because of doubts about Macario's reliability and credibility as a witness.

"It's incredibly frustrating. We trust our law enforcement to tell the truth. And when we have reason to believe they aren't, it's disgusting, frankly. It's frustrating," Freeman said in January.

Both Macario and his supervisor, Matthew Morrison, are on administrative leave while the patrol and State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) look into the matter.

"From day one, when they came to me and told me and told me that my son died in a single car accident with no witnesses, I told them that is not true," said Henrietta Mason.

The case has already led to the dismissal of nearly 200 cases where Macario was a key witness, which were mostly DWI cases.

"They would not have dismissed those cases if there were not something on that video -- that dash cam, and from the body cam -- that was just god awful," Crump said during the news conference.

Civil rights attorney Bakari Sellars added: "How on Earth do you drop 180 cases, and we're just supposed to turn a blind eye?"

ABC11 reached out to Freeman on Friday to see whether any charges might be filed against Macario. She said the investigation is ongoing.

The Highway Patrol is not commenting on the allegations.

"All that we ask is everyone comes together and get justice for my son," Henrietta Mason said.