Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office apologizes after featuring accused murder suspect in new music studio’s promotional videos
Update
Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office apologizes to a murder victim’s family after they were outraged when they saw the alleged killer featured in videos promoting the detention center’s new music program and recording studio.
Original Story (Posted: June 3, 2025)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Inside the Mecklenburg County Detention Center, a new music studio is giving inmates a way to express themselves while serving time. The state-of-the-art facility is part of a new program at the detention center. Program coordinator Dorian Johnson says, “Our studio is Studio Why. It’s the who, what, when, where, why and how of you.”
The program is called “Rhythm & Reflection: A journey to reformation.” Johnson says the goal is to encourage to inmates to explore their past, confront guilt and trauma and develop the self-awareness and emotional tools necessary for reintegration and renewal. Johnson says, “Our belief is that if you rehabilitate a person, help them understand what brought them into conflict with the law, that we will have increased public safety.”
Two inmates gave us a behind the scenes look at the studio. Marquel Pettiford has been in jail since December. Police charged him with murder after they say he shot and killed a parking enforcement worker at the Townes Apartments in east Charlotte. His fellow inmate, Adriel Hines, has been behind bars for a year. Hines’ charges include second-degree kidnapping and first degree burglary. The men say the program is a way to make sure people don’t end up in the same situation. Hines says, “A lot of music, they’re negative, so we can make it more positive. It not only influence us as as residents, but people who are outside of these walls.”
Pettiford says, “Behind the walls, in the cells, we don’t really have an area for people to hear, understand and, you know, just understand our point of view on things.”
The studio was funded with donations from The Tim Bergling Foundation. The organization was created by the family of the Swedish DJ Tim Bergling, known as Avicii. He died by suicide in 2018. The studio officially opens on Monday.
