Death by Cop 2021-2025
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Tyrone Mason
Age : 31
Gender : Male
Race : Black
Date : 10/07/2024
Location : Capital Boulevard near Wake Forest Road
City : Raleigh
County : Wake
State : North Carolina
Agency : North Carolina State Highway Patrol
Officer(s) :Garrett Macario
Cause of Death : Vehicle
Event : Driver killed by police chase crash
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :
REASON FOR CHASE:
Trooper Garrett Macario alleged Mason was speeding approximately 70 mph in a 40 mph zone.
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NARRATIVE:
On 10/07/2024, 31-year-old Tyrone Mason of Durham was killed when his 2018 Chevrolet Malibu crashed into a concrete median barrier on Capital Boulevard near Wake Forest Road in Raleigh following a pursuit initiated by North Carolina State Highway Patrol Trooper Garrett Macario.
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At approximately 2:30 a.m., Macario was conducting traffic enforcement on Capital Boulevard when he began following Mason. Macario alleged that Mason was traveling approximately 70 mph in a 40 mph zone and attempted to stop him.
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Macario pursued Mason for approximately one minute and nine seconds. Police video subsequently showed Macario ending the pursuit, turning off his emergency equipment and losing sight of Mason. Shortly afterward, Mason lost control of the Malibu and crashed into the concrete median barrier. He died at the scene.
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What happened after the crash subsequently became the subject of a State Bureau of Investigation inquiry, prosecutorial review, extensive public-record litigation and a wrongful-death lawsuit.
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Macario's body-camera footage showed that after discovering the fatal crash, he telephoned his supervisor, Sgt. Matthew Morrison. Morrison asked Macario whether he had reported the pursuit over the radio. When Macario said that he had not, Morrison told him not to disclose to responding Raleigh police that he had attempted to stop Mason.
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Morrison told Macario to characterize the incident as though he had simply encountered the wreck. Macario agreed.
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When Raleigh police arrived, an officer specifically asked Macario whether he had been attempting to stop Mason before the crash. Macario denied doing so and claimed that he had simply driven up on the wreck and observed smoke and debris.
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The body-camera footage also showed that Macario knew the crash was fatal but did not immediately attempt to render aid to Mason. When asked whether he had checked on the driver, Macario said he had not yet done so.
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As a result, Mason's death was initially presented to his family as a single-vehicle crash rather than a death immediately following a police pursuit. His mother, Henrietta Mason, was told that a state trooper had merely encountered her son's crashed vehicle.
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Henrietta Mason did not believe that account and began investigating her son's death herself. She and family members returned repeatedly to Capital Boulevard, contacted businesses seeking surveillance footage and searched for witnesses. Her efforts ultimately preceded official scrutiny of the troopers' conduct.
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The State Bureau of Investigation opened an investigation after information concerning Macario's involvement was brought forward. Investigators reviewed Macario's body-camera footage and communications with Morrison and documented the discrepancy between what the recordings showed and what Macario had told Raleigh police.
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Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman subsequently concluded that Macario and Morrison had been dishonest about the circumstances surrounding Mason's crash. Freeman determined that their conduct violated standards expected of law-enforcement officers but concluded that the available evidence would not support successful criminal prosecutions.
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The credibility findings had consequences far beyond Mason's case. Prosecutors dismissed approximately 200 pending criminal cases involving Macario or Morrison because their credibility as witnesses had been compromised.
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Macario and Morrison were placed on administrative leave in January 2025 while their conduct was investigated.
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Following court proceedings seeking public access to the evidence, body-camera and dash-camera recordings were released in 2025. The recordings publicly established that Macario had attempted to stop and pursued Mason immediately before the fatal crash and documented Morrison advising him not to disclose that fact.
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On 06/16/2025, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol fired both Garrett Macario and Matthew Morrison.
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LAWSUIT:
Mason's mother, Henrietta Mason, acting on behalf of her son's estate, pursued a wrongful-death claim against former Trooper Garrett Macario arising from the pursuit and Mason's death.
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The family was represented by civil-rights attorneys Ben Crump, Bakari Sellers and Raleigh attorney Sean Cecil.
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The family's attorneys alleged that Macario initiated an unsafe pursuit that resulted in Mason's death, failed to render aid after finding Mason critically injured and then participated in concealing the fact that he had pursued Mason.
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The family also challenged the actions of Raleigh police following the crash. Attorneys announced plans to pursue claims against the Raleigh Police Department and an investigator, alleging that Raleigh authorities participated in or perpetuated the false initial account that no pursuit had occurred.
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SETTLEMENT:
In August 2026, Mason's estate reached a $200,000 settlement resolving the wrongful-death claim against former North Carolina State Highway Patrol Trooper Garrett Macario.
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The settlement provides $100,000 for Mason's wrongful death and an additional $100,000 for expenses associated with his estate.
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The settlement ends the estate's claim against Macario but does not erase the broader findings arising from the investigation into Mason's death, including Macario's false statements, Morrison's instructions concerning what Macario should tell Raleigh police, the dismissal of approximately 200 criminal cases affected by their credibility and the eventual firing of both troopers.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Garrett Macario was a North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper assigned to traffic enforcement in Wake County. Macario initiated the attempted traffic stop and pursuit of Tyrone Mason on 10/07/2024.
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Macario's own body-camera footage subsequently contradicted the account he initially gave Raleigh police. The recording showed that he had pursued Mason before the fatal crash and that he called his supervisor, Sgt. Matthew Morrison, immediately afterward.
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Morrison advised Macario not to tell responding Raleigh police that he had attempted to stop Mason. Macario subsequently falsely told a Raleigh officer that he had merely encountered the wreck.
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The State Bureau of Investigation examined the conduct of both troopers. Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman concluded that their conduct was dishonest and inconsistent with Highway Patrol standards but determined that the evidence was insufficient to successfully prosecute either man criminally.
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The credibility problems involving Macario and Morrison caused prosecutors to dismiss approximately 200 pending cases involving one or both troopers. The cases included DWI and other traffic-related prosecutions in which their testimony would have been required.
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Macario and Morrison were suspended in January 2025 and dismissed from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol effective 06/16/2025.
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Macario subsequently became the defendant in the wrongful-death action brought by Mason's estate. That claim was resolved in August 2026 for $200,000.
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SOURCE LINKS :
https://www.wral.com/news/investigates/mother-seeks-answers-raleigh-crash-october-2024/
https://www.wral.com/news/local/ben-crump-bakari-sellers-tyrone-mason-chase-march-2025/
https://www.wral.com/news/local/bodycam-tyrone-mason-north-carolina-state-troopers-warrant-may-2025/
https://www.wral.com/news/local/tyrone-mason-family-news-conference-raleigh-may-2025/
https://www.wral.com/news/local/ncshp-troopers-not-charged-raleigh-crash-may-2205/
https://www.wral.com/news/local/nc-highway-patrol-troopers-fired-tyrone-mason-june-2025/
https://www.wunc.org/term/news/2025-05-23/tyrone-mason-shp-garrett-macario-body-camera-video
