Cooper Faces Renewed Soft-on-Crime Accusations After Teacher's Murder by Repeat Offender Freed by His Appointee

North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper faces renewed accusations of being soft on crime after critics cited the January murder of teacher Zoe Welch by a career criminal released following a lenient ruling by a judge Cooper appointed.

Welch, a Raleigh science teacher, was found dead in her home. An autopsy showed she died from blunt force trauma to the head. Ryan Camacho faces a first-degree murder charge. In April 2025, he had faced four counts of breaking and entering despite 20 prior arrests. Durham District Court Judge Dorothy Hairston Mitchell reduced those to a misdemeanor and let him go free.

Mitchell received her appointment from Cooper in 2021 to District 14. In announcing it, Cooper said she would lead with dedication and fairness. She replaced Brian Wilks and won election to the post in November 2022. A Cooper campaign spokesperson said the judge was elected to her position.

Cooper seeks the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. The race against Republican Michael Whatley, former Republican National Committee chairman, ranks among the most competitive this midterm cycle. Democrats see North Carolina as a pickup chance.

The killing recalls last summer's murder of Iryna Zarutska by another repeat offender. "Roy Cooper is a soft-on-crime lunatic who lets monsters out of prison instead of fighting to keep North Carolinians safe," said Republican National Committee spokesperson Emma Hall. "Cooper’s record has deadly consequences, and he owes every victim and their family an apology for his failure to keep dangerous criminals off the streets."

The Cooper campaign countered that he spent his career putting rapists and violent criminals behind bars during 16 years as state attorney general. It noted laws he signed as governor, including one easing prosecution of drug dealers selling fatal doses. The spokesperson added that Whatley appointed convicted child sex offender Harvey Lee West to a North Carolina Republican Party committee in 2021 and 2024. West pleaded guilty in 1999 to statutory rape of three girls, two aged 14 and one 16.

In 2021, under Cooper, the state released 3,500 inmates over 180 days as part of a Covid-19-related settlement with civil rights groups. Some had convictions for serious child offenses and sexual assault. Five hundred sixty of those released faced new charges within two years. Among them was Tyrell Brace, later charged with first-degree murder in the killing of young father Elante Thompson in Charlotte.