{"id":3509,"date":"2026-06-29T10:04:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T10:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3509"},"modified":"2026-06-29T10:04:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T10:04:18","slug":"nc-supreme-court-clears-path-for-trial-in-highway-patrol-interns-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3509","title":{"rendered":"NC Supreme Court clears path for trial in Highway Patrol intern\u2019s death"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

The mother of a North Carolina State Highway Patrol intern killed in a 113 mph crash may finally get to ask a jury whether the trooper driving the car should be held responsible for his death.<\/p>\n

Read more What can an HOA foreclose over? Attorney raises alarm over NC court fight<\/a><\/p>\n

Lisa Higgins\u2019 2022 lawsuit is headed toward a trial after the N.C. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal.<\/p>\n

Michael Higgins, 22, was a senior at East Carolina University and an aspiring state trooper completing an internship with the Highway Patrol when he died in August 2020.<\/p>\n

Court records say Michael Higgins was riding in the front seat of a patrol car when Trooper Omar Romero Mendoza, with one hand on the steering wheel, lost control of the car while driving 113 mph on a dark Pitt County road he had never driven on before.<\/p>\n

Lisa Higgins\u2019 lawsuit alleges that Romero and his supervisors ignored policies that, if followed, would have kept her son safe.<\/p>\n

Every trial means something different, said Lisa Higgins\u2019 attorney, Jim White.<\/p>\n

For Lisa Higgins, it would mean bringing change and accountability, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it takes a trial to get there, we\u2019re ready,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After the crash, Lisa Higgins says Highway Patrol officials initially told her little about how her son died, promising additional information that never came.<\/p>\n

She became one of two North Carolina mothers<\/a> who spent months or years fighting the agency for records about a son\u2019s fatal crash involving state troopers.<\/p>\n

A 2025 News & Observer review of Highway Patrol lawsuits and court settlements revealed five cases, including Higgins\u2019, where Highway Patrol officials took steps to shield themselves from scrutiny after controversial actions by troopers. Some of those steps included offering to drop charges in exchange for not filing a complaint<\/a>, lying about a trooper\u2019s actions<\/a>, and withholding information from family members.<\/a><\/p>\n

After hiring one attorney, Higgins rejected a $1 million settlement offer that would have limited further disclosures and required no admission of wrongdoing, she and White said in interviews last year. Higgins then hired White and filed suit in 2022.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit gave her access to crash reconstruction reports, patrol car video and sworn testimony from Highway Patrol employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kind of found out how many people failed Michael,\u201d Lisa Higgins told The N&O last year.<\/p>\n

Around 12:20 a.m. on Aug. 22, 2020, Romero had brought Michael Higgins to a crash scene in Pitt County, where a driver had crashed into a ditch. Another trooper told Romero to pursue a driver who had stopped at the crash but then left. The trooper said he smelled alcohol on the driver\u2019s breath.<\/p>\n

Romero turned on his lights and pushed his cruiser to at least 113 mph on a dark road with a 55 mph speed limit, according to a Highway Patrol report in court documents. Romero missed a sign warning of a curve ahead and lost control when he applied the brakes as the road started to bend, the report states. The car launched off the roadway, crashing through a utility pole, a fence and two trees.<\/p>\n

Read more What can an HOA foreclose over? Attorney raises alarm over NC court fight<\/a><\/p>\n

EMS workers cut Michael Higgins, who was wearing his seat belt, out of the wreckage and pronounced him dead on the side of the road<\/a>, the report said. Romero suffered minor injuries.<\/p>\n

Romero, who had been a trooper for about two years, violated a policy requiring officers to consider public safety before initiating a traffic response, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

His punishment: A written warning.<\/p>\n

Lisa Higgins\u2019 lawsuit contends Romero ignored policies prohibiting chases involving civilians in the car and failed to notify a supervisor about the chase. Her lawsuit also contends that Romero, under Highway Patrol policy, didn\u2019t have enough experience to have an intern in his car.<\/p>\n

In court filings and hearings, Romero\u2019s attorney, who is being paid by the state, disputed the assertion that the crash violated the chase policy.<\/p>\n

Romero was attempting to catch up to a woman suspected of driving drunk, a leading cause of traffic deaths nationwide, Romero\u2019s attorney, Brian Williams, said at a hearing, according to a transcript.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mistakes that were made were confined to a three- to four-second period as he approached the curve,\u201d Williams said. \u201cHe just made a bad call.\u201d<\/p>\n

In June 2023, Superior Court Judge William Wolfe dismissed the case against Romero, ruling Higgins\u2019 allegations didn\u2019t meet the legal threshold for gross negligence or willful and wanton conduct.<\/p>\n

She appealed. On Jan. 15, a divided Court of Appeals revived the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should be for the jury to determine whether defendant Romero\u2019s actions were needless or manifested a reckless indifference to the rights of Michael,\u201d Judge John S. Arrowood<\/a> wrote in an opinion.<\/a><\/p>\n

Romero\u2019s attorneys appealed to the N.C. Supreme Court, warning the ruling could erode officers\u2019 immunity, a protection they say allows police to do their jobs without hesitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis ruling has a chilling effect on daily law enforcement activities on public roads, state-wide,\u201d attorneys for the troopers argued in court documents.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 21, 2025, the Supreme Court paused the lawsuit while it weighed whether it would hear the case. On June 17, it denied Romero\u2019s petition to hear the case.<\/p>\n

The decision sends the case back to Pitt County,<\/a> where a jury could now decide whether Romero was grossly negligent.<\/p>\n

Read more The fuel crisis just exposed a major problem with green aviation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The N.C. 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