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UPDATE: Read our followup story on additional 911 audio from the accident.
The night before state Rep. Destin Hall’s wedding in southwest Virginia in December, one of his groomsmen was seriously injured after falling off the back of a pickup truck. Police records and a 911 call indicate that the truck—driven by another groomsman, with Hall as a passenger—briefly left the scene before returning.
Cory Bryson, a 34-year-old groomsman and the director of government relations for the University of North Carolina-Asheville, spent more than two weeks in the hospital, according to a post on his Facebook page. State Rep. Jason Saine, a close friend and mentor of Bryson’s, said Bryson lost vision in one eye and is still recovering from other injuries.
The incident has sparked widespread rumors at the General Assembly, and those involved haven’t discussed it publicly.
Through a spokesman, Hall, a 36-year-old Caldwell County lawyer whom Republicans will likely tap to become House speaker in 2025, declined to be interviewed but did provide a written statement.
“In mid-December of last year, a dear friend of mine was seriously injured in an accident while attending my wedding weekend,” Hall told The Assembly in the statement. “I am grateful to law enforcement and EMS who responded quickly. I have been in constant contact with my friend and his family since the accident, and my prayers continue to be with them as they work through his recovery. They deserve privacy through that process—and I will not participate in any effort to deprive them of that privacy.”
Other known witnesses did not respond to requests for comment.
At least half of the 20-person bridal party are current or former lobbyists, political operatives, and state employees. They included two of Hall’s fellow state representatives, Kyle Hall of Forsyth and Stokes counties and Brenden Jones of Columbus County.
No one has been charged with a crime or accused of wrongdoing. In a 911 call from a person in a second vehicle, there is no mention of alcohol, according to a redacted recording obtained by The Assembly. Still, some circumstances of the accident, including how fast the vehicle was traveling, remain unclear.
What’s known comes primarily from a six-minute 911 call The Assembly obtained from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, as well as dispatch reports from the sheriff’s office and the Virginia State Police. (The state police said the accident report was not a public record.)
According to his wedding website, Hall married Madison Skeens, then the assistant director of governmental relations for the N.C. School Boards Association, at a Bristol, Virginia, country club called The Olde Farm on December 16.
At about 5:40 p.m. the day before, according to records and sources familiar with the incident, Hall was being driven by Zane Stilwell, a lobbyist and groomsman, from one site at the country club to another to attend the wedding rehearsal. Bryson was riding in the back of the truck.
Stilwell hadn’t driven far before Bryson fell off, plummeting 10 feet into a ditch, according to the 911 call. The truck kept going, its occupants apparently unaware of what had happened.
Dylan Reel, a groomsman in the vehicle behind them, saw Bryson fall, stopped, and called 911. (Though Virginia law enforcement redacts the names of 911 callers, the dispatcher referred to the caller as “Dylan,” and the caller referred to himself as a member of the wedding party. Reel, a lobbyist and Hall’s former general counsel, is the only person who fits that description.)
With Bryson moaning softly in the background, Reel reported that his friend’s breathing was “abnormal” and “labored,” and he was bleeding from his head and chest. Later in the call, Reel said that Bryson wasn’t conscious.
“How fast was the vehicle going?” the dispatcher asked.
“I don’t know,” Reel replied.
“Did that vehicle stop?”
“No ma’am.”
The recording indicates that Stilwell and Hall returned to the scene within about four minutes, after another witness alerted them to Bryson’s fall.
“What the fuck happened?” someone can be heard yelling. Because paramedics hadn’t yet arrived, Bryson’s friends discussed driving Bryson to the hospital themselves, but the dispatcher instructed them not to move him. An emergency helicopter wasn’t available, according to police reports.
A sheriff’s deputy showed up soon after, calling, “Hey, brother man!” to Bryson, according to the 911 call. Bryson did not respond.
After a brief redaction, the recording captures a man asking Reel what happened.
“He fell out of the back of your truck. As soon as you pulled out and started hauling, he fell,” Reel responded.
“I didn’t haul!” the man protested.
The recording ends with one person at the scene—the voice sounds like Reel’s—telling another to “go to your wedding party.”
Saine, who did not attend the wedding, said he met Bryson in 2014 when Bryson volunteered for Thom Tillis’ first Senate campaign. He wanted to get into politics but didn’t have a clear path.
“He was willing to work hard for people and volunteer just for a ‘thank you,’” Saine said. “And that impressed me.”
Bryson started what Saine called his “dream job” at UNC-Asheville just last year, after leaving House Speaker Tim Moore’s office, where he worked on veterans’ issues. “He sees it as a chance to help the school grow and become a bigger asset to western North Carolina than it already is,” Saine said.
In an email, UNC-Asheville Chancellor Kimberly van Noort told The Assembly on Tuesday, “I am happy to confirm that Mr. Bryson will continue to represent UNC-Asheville at the N.C. General Assembly—including during the upcoming session and beyond.”
For the last two terms, Hall has chaired the powerful House Rules Committee, which effectively controls the flow of legislation in that chamber. He was also instrumental in crafting new legislative and congressional districts that have given Republicans sizable electoral advantages.
After Speaker Tim Moore announced in September 2023 that he’d step down after a decade of leading the state House (Moore is running for a U.S. House seat), Hall was the youngest of three leading candidates to replace him.
But the other two, Majority Leader John Bell and Appropriations Committee Chair Saine, announced their support for Hall, saying they wanted to avoid the infighting that has plagued Republicans in Washington, D.C. (Bell, who was not at Hall’s wedding, declined to comment for this article.)
In an interview with Carolina Journal last year, Hall said his priorities as speaker would be to “continue to invest in education because it’s one of the things that really makes North Carolina appealing, with both our public school system, K-12, and the UNC System, which is the best in the world.
“So we’ve got to continue to promote those policies, making sure that we’re not only being pro-business, but we’re also looking out for the everyday worker who’s out trying to earn a living for their family.”
Hall’s ascension in January 2025 will depend on Republicans’ maintaining their House majority this November, which is likely, and the new caucus electing him their leader.
Despite Bryson’s difficult upbringing in western North Carolina, Saine said, he’s always positive. Even though he’s facing a long recovery, Bryson remains upbeat.
“It’d be really easy for him to get down,” Saine said. “He’s not.”
Clarification: This article has been updated to provide more information about the 911 call.
Jeffrey Billman reports on politics and the law for The Assembly. Email him at jeffrey@theassemblync.com.