A pair of political commercials recently launched against former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper feature two grieving fathers recounting the tragic deaths of their children.
The editing and presentation of the ads imply a direct connection between Cooper and the release of the individuals responsible for these homicides, though that is not what actually took place.
“As the governor, Mr. Cooper was allowing these criminals back on the streets,” Ronald Hayes states in the first commercial, following an account of the March 2024 fatal shooting of his 23-year-old son, Shemar, in Charlotte.
As Hayes speaks, visual elements on screen display Cooper’s face alongside a headline purported to be from a news report: “Roy Cooper ‘to release 3500 state prison inmates early.’”
A similar layout is utilized in the second commercial, featuring Stephen Federico talking about his 23-year-old daughter, Logan, who was killed during a home invasion in Columbia, South Carolina, in May 2025.
“Logan was a casualty of an agenda,” Frederico remarks in the footage. “Roy Cooper let 3,500 criminals out on the street. Eighteen of them were murderers.”
Once more, Cooper’s likeness is paired with text attributed on-screen to WRAL-TV reading, “Roy Cooper: Released 3,500 North Carolina prisoners.”
NEW AD: @RoyCooperNC’s reckless policies and decision to release 3,500 violent criminals put every family in North Carolina at risk.
Stephen’s daughter Logan was a casualty of an agenda. pic.twitter.com/yPTAhaBImp
— Senate Leadership Fund (@Senate_Fund) August 19, 2026
Cooper, the Democratic candidate for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat, did consent to a 2021 civil rights lawsuit settlement that resulted in the early release of 3,500 inmates amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the commercials—funded by the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC dedicated to supporting the Republican Senate majority—omit the fact that this legal agreement had zero connection to either of the featured homicide cases.
Ronald Hayes expressed to PolitiFact that his remarks were manipulated, emphasizing he never intended to link his son’s killer to the 2021 prisoner releases. “That’s not what I said, but the way they changed it up, edited it, it makes it look like … Mr. Hayes lied,” he noted. He added that when he originally agreed to the interview, he believed he was participating in an independent project focused on reducing gun violence.
“If I could do something to change gun violence and have my son’s name associated with it? Yes, bring it on,” Hayes stated regarding his original intent.
Conversely, Frederico feels the commercial accurately reflects the potential dangers of permitting repeat offenders to return to the public.
The Senate Leadership Fund has pledged a $71 million investment to assist Republican candidate Michael Whatley in his race against Cooper for the seat being vacated by Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis. The PAC’s messaging echoes Whatley’s frequent characterization of Cooper, the state’s former attorney general, as being lenient on crime.
As a super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund is authorized to collect and deploy unlimited financial contributions, including those from unions and corporations, to support federal election candidates.
Origins of the Civil Rights Lawsuit Settlement
In April 2020, a coalition of advocacy organizations took legal action against Cooper’s administration to mitigate COVID-19 transmission rates within correctional institutions.
The ACLU of North Carolina and co-plaintiffs contended that the administration fell short in safeguarding inmates by failing to halt new admissions or release medically vulnerable prisoners and those nearing the end of their sentences. State officials countered that existing measures were adequate.
A North Carolina Superior Court judge ruled in June 2020 that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail, directing the involved parties to devise safety protocols that incorporated reentry initiatives and modified sentencing credits. By December 2020, a special master was assigned to supervise the negotiations.
Ultimately, a settlement was reached on February 25, 2021, providing for the release of 3,500 individuals—an agreement Whatley frequently mentions on the campaign trail as something he would have rejected.
Representatives for Cooper’s campaign denounced the advertisements as “false and misleading,” accusing Whatley of “using heinous crimes to boost his attacks.”
Meanwhile, Senate Leadership Fund communications director Chris Gustafson defended the ads, noting that individuals convicted of murder were indeed part of the 2021 releases.
While a report earlier this year by The New York Post indicated that 18 individuals freed under the settlement faced subsequent murder charges, a WRAL News investigation revealed that the majority of those individuals had either completed their terms or were already eligible for parole or scheduled release independently of the agreement. Gustafson maintained that the PAC intends to “keep reminding voters of Cooper’s deadly record.”
No Link Between the Killings and the 2021 Agreement
Police apprehended 18-year-old Tyzavian Smith at his Charlotte residence roughly two weeks after the March 12, 2024, shooting of Shemar Hayes. Smith subsequently entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder and received a prison sentence of at least 13 years.
Keith Acree, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, noted that Smith was only 15 years old when the COVID-19 prisoner releases occurred and that there is no indication he was incarcerated at that time.
Similarly, 31-year-old Alexander Dickey remains detained in South Carolina awaiting trial for Federico’s murder. While state records outline a substantial criminal record in South Carolina, Acree confirmed no history of imprisonment in North Carolina exists for him.
“Therefore he could not have been and was not included in the COVID-19 settlement,” stated Acree.
Court documents indicate Dickey faced various charges for burglary and theft in Lexington County, South Carolina, between 2013 and 2014. Logan Federico’s father has argued that stricter sentencing guidelines should have kept Dickey incarcerated, potentially preventing the 2025 tragedy, as noted in previous interviews.
Divergent Perspectives From the Two Fathers
Stephen Federico, a supporter of Whatley and a registered Republican, asserted that his participation in the ad was not intended to blame Cooper directly for his daughter’s murder, but rather to highlight the dangers of what he views as lenient governance.
“You would have to live under a rock or just be a moron not to realize and not know that she was killed in South Carolina,” Federico remarked regarding the extensive publicity surrounding the case.
Having testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in September 2025, Federico is advocating for federal legislation that would establish a publicly accessible database detailing the criminal histories of individuals convicted of offenses carrying potential prison terms exceeding 180 days.
Addressing critics of the commercial, Federico stated, “They can take those ads and they can read into them and they can do everything else they can, except accept the fact that soft-on-crime policies exist… And Roy Cooper was one of them.”
In contrast, Ronald Hayes, a lifelong Democrat who harbors no personal resentment toward Cooper, feels deceived by the production team and believes the advertisement misrepresents reality.
“I always knew that politics was nasty and dirty,” Hayes commented. “But I don’t like to be used, and I don’t want my words to be misunderstood or misleading.”
The Senate Leadership Fund provided PolitiFact with documentation purportedly bearing Hayes’ signature to authorize the use of the interview footage, alongside text messages indicating his approval of statements issued in an August 5 press release.
While Hayes acknowledged signing the forms—admitting a tendency to sign documents without thorough review—he maintained he had no idea the material would be framed to suggest his son’s killer was tied to the prisoner releases.
Confirming his plans to vote for Cooper, Hayes stated he would never have agreed to participate had he known the footage would serve as a political weapon against the former governor.
“I’m a Democrat. I voted Democrat all my life,” he said. “And I’m gonna go there and do a commercial against him? Not in my right mind. Not in my right mind. I’d have to be swindled, hoodwinked.”