In a daylong hearing June 4 that provoked sadness and anger, House Oversight Committee members grilled Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and state officials over the death of Dominique Moody—a six-year-old girl who had been tortured, abused, and kept in a dog cage until she died weighing just 27 pounds.

By the end of the day, Rep. Allen Chesser (R-Nash), who chaired the session, called for Mecklenburg County District Attorney to consider criminal charges against county employees for failing to intervene.

Members first questioned state Department of Human Services officials on their investigation of Mecklenburg County’s child protective services and discussed the potential value of predictive risk models with UNC School of Social Work professor Emily Putnam-Hornstein. Members then asked Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson and Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden about multiple law enforcement visits to the home over years.

County Manager Michael Bryant, Interim DSS Director Letecia Loadholt, and Deputy County Manager Kimm Campbell faced more than four hours of questions in the afternoon.

“Mecklenburg County received multiple reports of abuse and neglect and conducted assessments yet failed to intervene further,” NC Department of Health and Human Services Division Director for Human Services Lisa Tucker Cauley told the committee. She described multiple other failures across 122 additional cases NC DHHS examined.

Putnam-Hornstein said evaluations of predictive risk models had found they reduced both racial disparities and child fatalities. She was confident that “a model would have flagged her [Dominique’s] case for closer scrutiny.”

Putnam-Hornstein questioned Mecklenburg’s prioritizing new positions instead of better training and technology: “It’s not at all clear to me based on the facts that have been released that hiring 21 additional people in Mecklenburg County would have made any difference in Dominique’s case or is the kind of systemic change that is needed.” 

In an early indication of his frustration with the county, Rep. Chesser asked Cauley, “What may exist in a home that would make it unsafe for a worker to go there but make it safe for a child to remain in that home?”

Members’ incredulity climbed with law enforcement’s testimony. Rep. Mike Schietzelt (R-Wake) wondered how clearly visible holes in floors and walls leading to the outside did not raise more concern: “There were flashing red signs that should have tipped people off that something was not right here.”

Rep. Carla Cunningham (D-Mecklenburg) emphasized that CMPD is not solely responsible but, “A lot of people closed their eyes and failed to see.”

Rep. Heather Rhyne (R-Lincoln) asked Bryant and Loadholt concentrated on the county’s tendency to downplay its problems. A Program Review found it performed “only slightly worse than other large metropolitan areas” on recurrence of maltreatment and other indicators.  

Co-Chair Harry Warren (R-Rowan) told Bryant in relation to his role as county manager, “As you once said, and you’ll recall, I’m sure, we exist for one reason and for one reason only, to serve. And I submit to you that, tragically, Dominique Moody was not served. It wasn’t a lack of funding that led to her death, but it was poor performance, lack of supervision, and lack of a culture that was there to serve.”

Rep. Brian Echevarria (R-Cabarrus) read directly from an officer’s graphic account of the condition of the home and of the child. “It was extremely unkempt with strong odor of feces and urine. The residence was cluttered and numerous rats were scurrying through it. The residence had a mixture of animal and human feces throughout. … She had open wounds and scarring in various stages of healing covering most of her body.”

After calling for the district attorney’s to explore criminal charges, Rep. Chesser closed stating, “I hope that the plan you have in place, Mr. Bryant, with the trust that you’ve placed in these two ladies is well rewarded, but if it comes without consequences for those who cause the reason that you’re sitting here, it’s forfeit. It’s empty, it’s hollow, and it’s worth nothing.”