By admin 
RALEIGH, N.C. (WJZY) — State leaders are calling on Mecklenburg County leaders to testify as to what went wrong in the tragic death of 6-year-old Dominique Moody in east Charlotte.
Read more Charlotte leaders begin process of finding interim mayor
Moody was only 27 pounds and covered in past and fresh wounds when she passed away in December 2025. Three women acting as her caretakers allegedly deprived the child of basic necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, and proper care at a home on Gwynne Hill Road in east Charlotte.
Officials believe that this abuse and neglect had been going on for about a year and a half. The home was said to be in an unsanitary condition and without heat.
MORE | E. Charlotte home at the center of a deadly child abuse investigation intentionally set on fire: CFD
Following Dominique’s death, the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services removed four other children living in the home, between the ages of 1 and 6 years old.
In a new letter sent to city officials Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee is calling County Manager Mike Bryant, CMPD Chief Estella Patterson, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden, Interim DSS Director Leticia Loadholt, and DHHS Division Director Lisa Cauley to testify on what went wrong.
In late April, letters were sent to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) and the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services (DSS), alleging that “repeated reports” of abuse were not properly investigated.
Read more Parents call for reprint after special needs students excluded from Chapel Hill High School yearbook
Officials found major problems with the county’s DSS child safety planning, citing a lack of supervision to ensure workers followed proper procedures.
On May 20, NCDHHS found that four out of five screened-out reports involving Moody’s guardians met the definition of abuse or neglect, but were “screened out with no further assessment of the children’s safety.”
“That is not a bad judgment call. It is not a paperwork mistake. It is a child protection system failing at the one job that matters most, protecting children,” the letter, cosigned by Representatives Jake Johnson (R-113), Brenden Jones (R-46), and Harry Warren (R-76), read.
Representative Jones chairs the House Oversight Committee.
According to the letter, NCDHHS reviewed 122 unrelated CPS reports and assessments and found a systemic lack of sufficient safety planning. In 52% of intakes, workers didn’t ask sufficient questions to explore alleged maltreatment.
“The public deserves to know how a child as vulnerable as Dominque could come to the attention of Mecklenburg County DSS and still die in such unspeakable conditions. The Committee intends to find out,” the letter adds.
City officials were ordered to submit their written testimony no later than June 1, at noon, ahead of the scheduled hearing at the Legislative Building Auditorium on June 4 in Raleigh.
Read more Denmark and former Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel retiring because of shoulder injury