A family in Tennessee is fighting for answers after the mysterious death of 18-year-old baseball star Grant Solomon nearly four years ago.
Grant’s father Aaron Solomon was the only known witness when his son’s own vehicle, a white Toyota Tacoma truck, ran over him on the side of the road.
On the morning of July 20, 2020, Grant was driving to meet his father, a former Tennessee news anchor, at the Ward Performance Institute for a private pitching session in Gallatin – about 50 miles away from his home in Franklin.
Less than 10 minutes after arriving at the facility, Aaron called 911 and said his son was trapped underneath his Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. The handsome 6ft4 athlete, who was starting his senior year of high school, died shortly after.
The Gallatin Police Department recorded Grant’s death as a parking lot accident, ruled it as accidental and closed the case.
But Grant’s devastated family claim there was no investigation, no reconstruction of the scene and no autopsy or toxicology performed.
Grant Solomon, 18, star baseball player, who was starting his senior year of high school, died in in a tragic accident on July 20, 2020
Grant’s pickup truck is pictured in a gravel ditch. The incident report indicated that the point of first impact was the rear end of the vehicle and the car had functional damage
Grant’s white Toyota Tocoma pickup truck pictured on the side of the road. The incident took place at 8.40am
Grant’s father, Aaron Solomon, a former news anchor, at WSMV Channel 4, and only witness called 911
In Aaron’s 911 call, he is heard telling the operator that ‘his son’s truck backed over him and dragged him into the ditch and the truck is on top of him,’ according to the audio obtained by DailyMail.com.
The operator is heard calmly asking Aaron how old the male is – to which he responded that Grant turned 18 a month ago.
He then is heard saying: ‘Oh my god.. oh my god,’ and repeats that his son is trapped underneath the truck.
‘He is underneath the vehicle. It is a white truck. That is my son… somehow it backed up. Oh my god…this is not good… I guess he didn’t have it in park… it wasn’t engaged… the brakes,’ Aaron said.
He told the operator that there were three other people at the scene, and the call handler told him to check whether Grant was breathing.
He is then heard saying that Grant is face-up, and blood is coming from his mouth. At one point during the call, Aaron is heard raising his voice as he tells Grant to turn his face to the side, if he can, and to be careful.
According to a later incident report obtained by DailyMail.com, Grant was found by emergency responders lying face-up on the large rocks of a drainage ditch, underneath the front of the truck’s two tires.
In his statement to police, the former news anchor with WSMV Channel 4 said he and Grant were parked side-by-side outside the facility.
‘I was still in my car, but noticed my son got out to get his baseball gear out of the back of is truck,’ he said.
‘I looked down to check a work email and the next thing I know I hear and see the truck rolling backwards into the ditch. I get out of my car to try to find my son and saw that he was trapped underneath the truck and immediately called 911.’
Grant’s mother Angie pictured with her late son and his sister Gracie
Grant smiles as his girlfriend (not pictured) pins a white boutonniere to his jacket
Aaron gave a statement to the Gallatin Police Department
A police report by the Gallatin PD stated that Grant was struck by his own vehicle in the parking lot.
The first point of impact was the rear end of the vehicle that sustained functional damage. It noted that the roadway surface was asphalt and the conditions that day were dry.
The police reported their narrative of the event and attached a diagram.
‘Vehicle one was stopped in the parking lot 1357 Highway 109 South. The owner of vehicle one, exited the truck and was subsequently struck by truck as it rolled down the parking lot,’ they wrote.
‘Vehicle one drug the owner into the drainage ditch where it came to rest. The owner was trapped underneath.
Grant’s cause of death was listed as multiple blunt force trauma; run over by automobile with the time stamp of 8.40am at 1357 South Water Avenue in Gallatin, TN.
The manner was reported as accidental. He died less than an hour later at 9.26am at Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin, according to his death certificate.
A sketch of the scene of the crash that shows Grants truck that happened off State Highway 109 in Gallatin, Tennessee
The scene: Grant’s white Toyoto Tacoma pickup truck that he was reportedly struck and killed by on the morning of July 20, 2020
But more than a year after his death some mysterious details have emerged.
An internal memo obtained by DailyMail.com that was sent from the Tennessee Attorney General Anthony Jonathan Skrmetti to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee in June 2022 called Grant’s death a ‘homicide.’
When Grant’s family learned of this development they appeared hopeful that the investigation would be reopened, but later learned that would not be the case.
The Attorney General’s office told DailyMail.com they were unable to comment about the contents of the memo, and stated that their office does not have original criminal jurisdiction, or the authority to investigate or prosecute homicides in the state of Tennessee.
They said those matters are handled by the District Attorney’s office.
When DailyMail.com spoke to Sumner County District Attorney Ray Whitley about the case he called Grant Solomon’s death a ‘parking lot accident’ and said they would not be reopening the investigation.
‘It’s been looked into and the investigation has been reopened before. There is no basis for a homicide charge or no criminal act here,’ he said.
‘It is just a horrible accident, and I am really sorry that it happened, but it’s not a criminal case so there is nothing we are are going to go forward with.
‘Angie Solomon, I know she has advanced this petition and she has stated what she thinks the facts are, and they’re not necessarily the true facts, and there’s noting we have been able to find whatsoever that would support a criminal prosecution.’
When asked what type of evidence had led him to the decision, he was tight-lipped.
‘I’m not going into the details. I don’t want to debate that at all,’ Whitley told DailyMail.com.
‘All I can say is that it’s been looked into and I’ve asked the police department to look into it again – which they have done – and there’s just nothing there.’
Sumner County District Attorney Ray Whitley
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti
Gallatin Chief of Police Don Bandy
When he was asked about the memo the AG sent to the governor, which called Grant’s death a homicide, he said, he was ‘not sure why he said that.’
Seeming baffled, he said: ‘I just don’t know why he would say it was a homicide. I can’t answer to why he would say that, but I don’t think it carries any weight, and he did not intend for it to carry any weight as a homicide. He was not making a judgement.
‘There’s been allegations that it was a homicide. Angie Solomon has alleged that it’s a homicide, but the facts show that it was not a homicide.
‘It was a tragic accident. It’s a terrible thing. It’s agonizing for everybody. I mean, he was a great looking young man, and he was tall, and active and athletic and it was just a sad, sad thing, but just because it was a tragic death does not make it a criminal act, it was just a pure parking lot accident.’
Grant’s parents, Angie and Aaron, are divorced and have had a tumultuous relationship and the children were living with her at the time of their son’s death.
But Whitley stood by his word that the police have looked into the case more than once and that there is nothing else to look into.
He added: ‘I’ve been a prosecutor for many years, and I prosecute anything that is feasible to prosecute, but this is not. This was a parking lot accident,’ he repeated.
When DailyMail.com contacted the Gallatin Police Department with further questions about the case – including if bodycam footage was taken – PIO Michael Carman responded: ‘Thank you for inquiry about the Grant Solomon case. This is a closed investigation. The facts of this case do not support that a crime was committed.’
He added: ‘This was a very tragic accident and our thoughts remain with the family of the young man who lost his life.’
Despite the numerous roadblocks she has faced, Angie continues to seek justice for her son Grant.
A GoFundMe created by Freedom for Gracie was created to help raise funds so the family is able to do their own investigation into Grant’s death.
As of Thursday, the campaign has raised $127,854 towards their goal of $250,000.
Grant, 18, pictured with his mother Angie (center) and sister Gracie, now 17
A mother and son photo of Angie smiling with her oldest child, Grant, who is determined to do whatever it takes to get justice for her son
Grant would have turned 22 in June
A change.org petition has also gone viral to help reopen the investigation which has garnered more than 325,000 signatures towards their goal of 500,000.
The family said they plan to legally file for an exhumation and an out-of-state autopsy on Grant.
They also are working with a specialist to obtain a computerized accident reconstruction of the scene using the topography of the land and specs of the truck.
Grant, would have turned 22 in June.
His grief-stricken mother will not rest until she gets justice for her son.
She recalled breaking down in hysterics when she reached the hospital and discovered he was dead: ‘I hit the floor. I don’t know what I did. I don’t know how long I was down there.’
Now Angie says: ‘I believe that there are many unanswered questions and conflicting details around the death of my son Grant that warrant an investigation to be opened.’
The family hopes that these two new developments will help them get the answers they are desperately seeking.