Dominique Moody was six years old when she was found unresponsive in her east Charlotte home in December 2025. Police say she was starved, beaten, and locked in a dog crate. She later died.

Over the course of several years, 13 allegations of abuse and neglect had been reported. Social workers and law enforcement visited her home dozens of times. At one point, a caseworker reviewed photographs of the child's wounds and recommended she be removed from the home. A supervisor overturned that recommendation. The ligature marks on Dominique's body were dismissed as marks from a nail in a crib.

She was not removed. She died.

North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services reviewed Dominique's case and found what it described as "broad, systemic failures," including a lack of appropriate safety planning, insufficient family contacts, and inadequate supervisory oversight. A review of 122 other Mecklenburg County cases found that in more than half, workers did not ask enough questions to explore alleged maltreatment. In more than a third of cases involving potential criminal abuse, case files did not include required notifications to law enforcement or the district attorney.

"It wasn't that someone didn't get to it," said Rep. Brian Echevarria during a seven-hour legislative hearing on Dominique's death. "They got to it and they dismissed it. It was looked at and dismissed under your authority."

Twelve Mecklenburg employees were disciplined. One senior manager was fired. But discipline is not the same as accountability, and internal consequences are not the same as justice. The NC House Oversight Committee has already called on Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather to open a criminal investigation into the employees who handled, supervised, and screened out reports in Dominique's case. We are adding our voices to that demand. The supervisor who looked at photographs of a child's wounds and sent her back into that home must face a criminal review.

But criminal accountability alone will not save the next child. Mecklenburg County social workers carry an average of 17 cases each. Best practice, according to national child welfare experts, is 8 to 10. That is not a Mecklenburg problem. It is a statewide problem driven by chronic underfunding, high turnover, and salaries that cannot compete with neighboring counties or other employers.

"There's so many barriers that the county DSSs are trying to overcome to try to meet those standards," said Karen McLeod of Benchmarks, one of North Carolina's leading child welfare advocacy organizations.

We are calling on the North Carolina General Assembly to pass Dominique's Law, which would create escalation teams for cases with a documented history of combined safety and risk factors. We are calling on the legislature to fund and mandate caseload limits that meet the 8-to-10 standard in every county. And we are calling on the legislature to ensure that every county in North Carolina can pay child welfare workers enough to stay.

"This is a fight not just for Dominique, not just for Desiree," said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family. "This is a fight for every child in North Carolina."

Sign to demand justice for Dominique and real reform for every child who comes after her.