CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The family of 6-year-old Dominique Moody, joined by nationally renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump, held a news conference Monday demanding accountability from Mecklenburg County and North Carolina state agencies following the child’s death.
It’s a death her family and legal team say could have been prevented. Dominique was found unresponsive at her guardian’s home on Dec. 16, 2025. She was 3 feet tall and weighed just 27 pounds.
The details presented on Monday were devastating. J. Vernon Peterson, a mortician who is also related to the family, said Dominique’s growth had been stunted as a result of abuse, and that preparing her body for her mother to view was extraordinarily difficult…