CMPD chief and a top judge shared a plane ride. Now they both have COVID-19
Two of the top figures in Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s criminal justice system tested positive for COVID-19 after sharing a plane ride last week for a one-day briefing on an anti-violence program.
Both Chief District Judge Elizabeth Trosch and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Chief Johnny Jennings tested positive after returning from the Dec. 2 trip to Wilmington.
So has one of their hosts for the trip, New Hanover/Pender District Attorney Ben David, a spokeswoman for his office said Wednesday.
Trosch began showing symptoms the day after the trip. She tested positive Friday.
How she got the disease is unclear, Trosch said.
In an emailed response Wednesday to a list of Observer questions, Trosch said county health officials have investigated her case. But “because of the significant spread that we are experiencing, they are not able to determine where the virus was contracted,” she said.
The Centers for Disease Control says COVID symptoms may arise anywhere from two to 14 days after exposure.
Jennings tested positive Tuesday and was quarantining and working from home on Wednesday, police said.
Mecklenburg District Attorney Spencer Merriweather, who was also on the Dec. 2 flight, told the Observer he has tested negative.
The three local officials were among six passengers on a 45-minute charter flight to Wilmington last week for a program on youth violence.
After about five hours on the ground, the delegation flew home, Merriweather said.
Trosch, who last held court on Dec. 3, said she was “doing better” Wednesday but still experiencing headaches, a fever, congestion and a mild cough.
Merriweather said he remains symptom-free, but has begun a 14-day home quarantine.
CMPD said Jennings was doing well Wednesday and conducting “business as usual” from home.
‘Save some lives’
Both Merriweather and Trosch defended their decisions to make the trip, which occurred in the midst of a resurgent pandemic that has health experts recommending only essential travel.
Merriweather said the program on “trauma-caused violence” meshes with the reorganization of his office to deal more effectively with violent crime, much of it involving young people.
While in Wilmington, he said he learned and saw things “that I can bring back to my office, back to my community ... that might save some lives.”
Asked if the trip was “essential,” Trosch wrote: “The Charlotte community is suffering significant trauma-caused violence, COVID-19 and racial injustice. There is imminent need for more effective responses to violence and trauma.”
Asked if the trip was worth the risk of infecting herself and others, Trosch replied, “What we know right now is that the community spread is significant to the point that we risk infection when we are out in public, even when we follow all the safety precautions of masking, limiting duration and physical distancing.”
The Dec. 2 trip was sponsored by the Winer Family Foundation in Charlotte and the New Hanover/Pender District Attorney’s Office.
The foundation chartered the plane. Elizabeth Star-Winer, one of the foundation’s trustees, and two staff members also made the trip.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Star-Winer declined comment.
David, the New Hanover/Pender District Attorney, told television station WECT that he tested positive after meeting with the Charlotte group. He said all of the visitors wore masks at all times except during lunch, when they practiced social distancing.
Merriweather says he came in contact with a little more than a dozen people during the day. All wore masks and maintained social distancing, he said.
Trosch said the delegation toured neighborhoods beset by violence that have benefited from the programs that were discussed. “A virtual meeting would not have allowed the group to see the impact first-hand,” she said.
Both she and Merriweather said they agreed to the chartered flight because they thought it was cheaper, safer and more time-efficient than taking a car.
‘A lesson to everybody’
In a news conference Wednesday, Jeff Estes, a CMPD deputy chief, said Jennings was following the same thinking when he got on the plane.
Estes said the police chief took “every single precaution” during the trip. He also followed safety protocols after his return to Charlotte, before learning of his exposure. That included a Dec. 3 meeting with a Charlotte Secret Santas group.
“This really could be a lesson to everybody,” Estes said. ”This disease spreads easily.”
Trosch has been one of the county’s leaders in trying to keep the courts and jail safe from the pandemic. On Tuesday, the courthouse announced that it has canceled most of the remaining trials scheduled for this month.
Meanwhile, the jail is experiencing a record number of COVID-19 cases among the inmates and staff.
Since the pandemic, Estes said 111 CMPD officers have tested positive for the virus that has infected over 15 million Americans. Currently, there are 20 officers who are recovering from the virus and 30 more that are quarantining.
CMPD spokesman Rob Tufano said most of those officers were out before Jennings tested positive.
Trosch and Merriweather said they committed to traveling to Wilmington on Nov. 16. Over the following weeks, Charlotte-Mecklenburg set records for new COVID cases and hospitalizations.
Trosch said the trip showed her what Charlotte-Mecklenburg can do to confront violence among the young.
She said her diagnosis has taught her this:
“We need to stay home and avoid public places unless absolutely necessary.”
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 5:42 PM.
