North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation

So we resume testimony with Justin Heinrich.

He is the special agent in charge of the special operations unit for the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

And.

He became the lead case agent on this after the one-year anniversary of Faith's murder.

When investigators spoke to the cousin, they told investigators that about a year prior to Mackenzie's murder, Trey had made a crude comment about her and another cousin, and he'd done so while angry over being asked to leave the family's swimming pool.

When investigators learned this, two of them, a Samson County Sheriff's Office detective and a detective from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, drove to Franklin County, North Carolina, well over an hour away where Jones had since moved to.

There, investigators found him sitting on his house's front porch.

Despite his young age and diagnosed intellectual impairment, they interviewed him alone for approximately two hours.

Needless to say, Trey, his family, and his legal representatives were successful in their suit.

Just recently, in the summer of 2026, all parties agreed to a compromise settlement in the amount of $10 million.

$2 million of those dollars were paid by insurers on behalf of the Sampson County Sheriff and other county law enforcement officers, and $8 million were paid by insurers on behalf of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Officer William Brady.

The money will be placed partially in a trust and partially in a structured annuity settlement, which will benefit Trey throughout the rest of his life.

And this is another law enforcement official.

He was a former special agent with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

In the United States, it seems like some Some of the states have bureaus of investigation of their own, and others, like where we live, have state police.

So I think, you know, within state police, you have people who work the road, road troopers, and people focused on that.

And that was sort of where Mr. Gutierrez came in.

There were two very quick witnesses.

One was North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Assistant Special Agent in Charge Candace Lanham.

And this was done by Brooks Stone, to be clear, the assistant agent.

They asked for help.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation came in about a year later, and they worked together in tandem.

They never stopped.

They never stopped looking because they knew.

Sources tell WBTV that the investigation from the U.S. Attorney's office and the FBI started before the request for a state investigation.

Why is this important? Well, on September 18th, the Mecklenburg County DA asked the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to launch a criminal investigation into CMS.

Now remember, they fired Crystal Hill four days later, okay? But the DA asked the state to start looking into this.

But according to this report at WBTV, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office, they were already looking into CMS.

County Schools.

And the news comes in the wake of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the State Auditor's Office confirming that they are also looking into the district's finances.

The State Board of Education said last week that it would be reviewing the district and also assisting the state investigations into CMS.

Our partner station, WSOC in Charlotte, has reported that questions have been raised about the school district's handling of money that is supposed to help exceptional children.