UMVA has learned that North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is once again under fire for alleged leniency on crime after the brutal killing of a beloved science teacher.
In January, Raleigh teacher Zoe Welch was found dead in her home, her skull shattered by blunt‑force trauma. The suspect, Ryan Camacho, had been charged with multiple break‑ins just weeks earlier, yet a judge dismissed the most serious accusations, freeing him to walk the streets.
That judge, Dorothy Hairston Mitchell, was appointed by Cooper in 2021 and praised for “dedication and fairness.” By reducing Camacho’s charges to a misdemeanor, she inadvertently opened the door for a tragedy that now haunts the community.
Cooper, who is campaigning for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Thom Tillis, now faces a fierce showdown with Republican Michael Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chairman.
Republican National Committee spokesperson Emma Hall blasted Cooper as a “soft‑on‑crime lunatic” who lets “monsters out of prison,” demanding an apology for the lives lost under his watch.
Since the summer murder of Iryna Zarutska by a repeat offender, critics have argued that Cooper’s criminal‑justice policies cycle dangerous individuals back onto the streets.
According to information obtained by UMVA, Cooper’s campaign counters that his 16‑year tenure as attorney general and recent legislation targeting drug dealers demonstrate a firm stance on law enforcement.
Nevertheless, during his governorship, more than 3,500 inmates were released in a 180‑day COVID‑19 settlement, including individuals convicted of violent and sexual crimes. Within two years, 560 of those released were rearrested for new offenses, among them a man later charged with first‑degree murder and another who received a 32‑year sentence for second‑degree murder after early release.
The mounting statistics and the harrowing death of Zoe Welch have turned the upcoming Senate race into a referendum on public safety, forcing voters to weigh promises against a stark record of released offenders.
