From families demanding answers in the deaths of Black teenagers to progressive candidates reshaping Democratic primaries, accountability has emerged as a defining theme of the summer. Across courtrooms, communities and campaigns, Americans are challenging institutions they say have failed them. This is some of the news you may have missed.
Cyrus Carmack-Belton
In May 2023, 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton was fatally shot in the back by South Carolina gas station owner Chikei Rick Chow following an erroneous accusation of shoplifting water bottles. Chow claimed he acted in self-defense, while prosecutors argued Carmack-Belton posed no active threat as he fled the store.
After a four-day trial in June, Chow was found not guilty of the murder of Cyrus Carmack-Belton.
While Carmack-Belton’s family saw their day in court result in an acquittal that sparked widespread public pushback, the families of Nolan Wells and Tyler Smith are facing a hurdle before the courtroom: ensuring local authorities meet their standards for a thorough and transparent investigation into their son’s deaths.
Nolan Wells
A Mississippi teen, Nolan Wells, was found dead along the shoreline of Horn Island on July 6, two days after he went missing while celebrating the Fourth of July with a group of white peers. Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter initially proposed drowning as his cause of death.
The family retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump and opted for a private, independent autopsy. Dr. Roger Mitchell, forensic pathologist and former president of Howard University Hospital performed the autopsy and could not rule out foul play.
Just as Wells’ family challenged Mississippi authorities, a nearly identical battle was unfolding in Kentucky on the same July Fourth weekend involving another teen who died under similarly suspicious circumstances.
Tyler Smith
In Lexington, Kentucky, the 18-year-old Tyler Smith suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head while at a gathering with five white teens and his death was labeled a self-inflicted shooting.
Although witnesses claimed the group was playing Russian roulette, police charged another attendee with tampering with physical evidence for removing a firearm from the scene that did not match the recovered shell casings.
His family has rejected law enforcement characterizations of the death as an accidental, self-inflicted shooting, pointing to conflicting physical evidence and lack of communication from investigators.
The common thread between these cases is structurally embedded racial injustice paired with power and class dynamics, argues Justin Hansford, a Howard Law professor and founder and executive director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center.
“The structure of local policing and prosecution is often designed to target the usual suspects,” noted Hansford.
Smith’s death falls under what Hansford identified as a growing number of suicides and accidental deaths among Black youth that are a combination of racially motivated crime and improper police investigation.
The Smiths, like the Wells family, retained Ben Crump as their lawyer. Crump spoke about Smith’s death at a National Urban League Conference calling for justice for Wells, Smith and Daniel Erving, all 18-year-old Black boys who died recently under circumstances deemed suspicious by the public.
While communities demand justice in the courtroom, voter frustration is reshaping the national political landscape. Accountability was also a theme in this summer’s primary elections, where progressive candidates made notable gains.
The Left Wins Big
Progressive and democratic socialist candidates scored notable wins in several Democratic primaries this summer.
The clearest examples came out of New York’s districts. The 13th District, where Darializa Avila Chevalier, backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), unseated five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the 10th District, where Brad Lander defeated Rep. Dan Goldman, and in the open 7th District, DSA-endorsed Claire Valdez won her primary outright. Nationally, DSA-backed candidates have now won 35 of the 150 primaries the organization contested.
In Washington, D.C., Janeese Lewis George won the mayoral primary running as a democratic socialist. The victories build on the momentum of Zohran Mamdani’s 2025 mayoral campaign.
A Senate Campaign Implodes
Graham Platner, an oyster farmer and combat veteran, was running a scrappy, Bernie Sanders-backed campaign against Maine’s longtime Republican senator, Susan Collins. By July, it had collapsed.
This came after scrutiny over Platner’s old social media posts, a tattoo with Nazi association and a sexual assault allegation he has denied.
He withdrew from the race, a process Maine gave him until July 13 to complete, clearing a way for Democrats to pick the new nominee — Troy Jackson.
Democrats need this seat to have a realistic shot at retaking the Senate majority, and Collins is one of the party’s top targets nationally. Jackson now has far less runway before November.
Copy edited by Sydney Middleton