Jaquyn O'Neill Light

Jaquyn O'Neill Light, 20, was shot and killed by Graham, North Carolina Police Officer Marcus Pollock on January 28, 2020, while officers were attempting to serve arrest warrants for misdemeanor assault and a felony probation violation at a residence where Light was believed to be staying. Light ran out the front door, unintentionally colliding with Pollock, who fired a single shot that struck Light in the abdomen; Light was unarmed, and no weapon was ever found on him. Pollock's body camera was not recording. Alamance County District Attorney Sean Boone announced in July 2020 that the shooting was either accidental or in self-defense, and that both explanations were consistent with the evidence, declining to file charges. No one has ever been charged in Light's death.

Graham, NC · Alamance County

• 2020: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The attempted warrant service, the collision, and the shooting, per Alamance County District Attorney Sean Boone's July 2020 public findings and a subsequent federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Light's estate.
• Officers Brandon Land, Marcus Pollock, and Keith Scoggins arrived to serve warrants for misdemeanor assault and a felony probation violation for absconding; the front porch of the residence was covered in black plastic draping that blocked the entrance.
• District Attorney Boone's investigation concluded Light likely heard officers inside the home and ran out the front door believing no police were positioned there, unintentionally colliding with Officer Pollock as he exited.
• Pollock's gun discharged during or immediately after the collision, striking Light once in the left side of his abdomen; an autopsy by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner found he died from blood loss caused by the single gunshot wound. Light was not shot in the back, Boone said, and no weapon was found on him.
• Pollock's body camera was not recording during the encounter, a fact Light's mother said left her without a clear account of what actually happened despite the district attorney's briefing.
• District Attorney Boone announced on July 17, 2020 that no criminal charges would be filed, stating the shooting was consistent with the evidence as either an accident or self-defense, and that he believed an accidental discharge to be the more likely explanation.
• The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation separately reviewed the shooting and reached the same conclusion in 2022, finding no evidence Pollock broke the law.
• Light's estate filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Graham, then-Police Chief Jeff Prichard, and Officer Pollock; the city agreed in 2024 to a $725,000 settlement, with funds set aside for Light's daughter, born the same year he died.

• Whether the shooting was in fact an accidental discharge during a physical collision, as the district attorney concluded was most likely, or a deliberate act of self-defense, the other explanation the district attorney said was equally consistent with the evidence, was never resolved with certainty, and neither explanation was tested at any criminal trial since none was brought.
• Why Officer Pollock's body camera was not recording during an attempted warrant service, despite department policy, has not been fully explained in available public reporting.
• The full contents of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation's independent 2022 review, beyond its conclusion, have not been made comprehensively public.

• FOX8 WGHP — “Officer shot Graham man accidentally or in self-defense, district attorney says; suspect was not armed”
• FOX8 WGHP — “Graham officer did not break law by shooting, killing Jaquyn Light, SBI says”
• Alamance News — “City of Graham ordered to pay $725K to settle wrongful death suit”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs