Going West: True Crime - Grant Solomon // 300

Episode Date: April 28, 2023

In July of 2020, an 18-year-old man was run over by his own truck in a supposed “freak accident”. But when none of the evidence at the scene suggested that that was what had actually happened, suspicions fell on his father. Disturbing information about his father has come out since that fateful day, as the family continues to fight for justice for him, as well as what happened to his sister. This is the story of Grant Solomon. CHANGE.ORG PETITION https://www.change.org/p/please-help-me-investigate-the-mysterious-death-of-my-son-grant-solomon GRANT GOFUNDME https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-get-justice-for-grant GRACE GOFUNDME https://www.gofundme.com/f/freedom4gracie?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer CONTACT GALLATIN MAYOR, CHIEF, DA Mayor of Gallatin, Paige Brown: [phone], [e-mail] Chief of Police, Don Bandy: [phone], [e-mail] Sumner County District Attorney, Ray Whitley: [phone] [e-mail] BONUS EPISODES Apple Subscriptions: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/going-west-true-crime/id1448151398 Patreon: patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. Medium: https://medium.com/honestly-yours/former-nashville-anchor-accused-of-rape-and-murder-44ff96694495 2. Freedom for Gracie: https://www.freedom4gracie.com/ 3. ID: https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/news/what-happened-to-grant-solomon-loved-ones-believe-teen-baseball-stars-tragic-death-may-have-been-murder 4. Freedom for Gracie: https://www.instagram.com/freedomforgracie/ 5. Grant's Obituary: https://www.williamsonherald.com/obituaries/obituary-grant-rhodes-huffines-solomon/article_154a2dc6-cc5d-11ea-85cb-73dd8cdcf280.html 6. Gracie's Testimony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpNRNuaFhAk&t=136s 7. Freedom for Gracie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomforgracie/ 8. Freedom for Gracie Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freedomforgracie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on True Crime fans? I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to the 300th episode of Going West. Yes, we asked you guys last time this episode totally snuck up on us and we asked you guys last time what you would want to see in this episode. And I should have specified because the only recommendations we got were people suggesting cases, but we have our cases planned out like weeks in advance, so we couldn't use any of those.

But honestly, today's case is so special in itself because it has a ton of call to action because we can all create positive change together. You will be outraged when you finish this episode. So let's work together to help this family. Absolutely. And this case was actually recommended by so many of you guys and for good reason.

Yeah, it's been floating around a lot on TikTok because of the unreal injustice. Despite there being such a clear cut answer right in front of all of us, so big thank you to Rihanna, Brittany, Whitney, Alex, Natalia, Haley, Ethan, Chris, and Bindiya. Thank you guys so much. Yes, and please, please make sure that you share this case. It is very, very important.

Yes, and also, by the way, I should have said this by now, but thank you guys so much for bringing us to 300 episodes. We're so happy to be doing this show and spreading all these cases with the help of you guys just listening. So we really appreciate you being here and we love you all so much. Yes, thank you guys so much. All right guys, this is episode 300 of Going West, so let's get into it. 1.0% In July of 2020, an 18-year-old man was run over by his own truck in a supposed freak accident. But when none of the evidence at the scene suggested that that was what actually happened, Suspissions fell on his own father.

Disturbing information about his father has come out since that fateful day, as the family continues to fight for justice for him, as well as what happened to his sister. is the story of Grant Solomon. Grant Rhodes Huffine Solomon was born on June 13,, 2002 to Angelia, or Angie, as we're going to call her in this episode, because many people do. And Erin Solomon in Tennessee. Grants parents had a bit of a unique courtship, like they knew each other before they got together, but then they dated for just six weeks before they got pregnant with Grant and decided to get married from there. And then four years after Grant was born, the family welcomed Grant's little sister, Gracie.

The Solomon settled into the very idyllic and affluent Nashville neighborhood of Franklin. And while living there and raising the kids, Angie went on to earn her doctorate in pharmacy. And Aaron Solomon was a well-known news anchor for a local Nashville news station. In a spare time, he coached Grant's baseball team and was, by outsider accounts, a doating father and a loving husband. But Angie, Grant, and Gracie told a very different story. By 2008, when the kids were two and six, Angie caught Erin cheating on her with multiple women, hiring sex workers and in Angie's words, grooming underage women by speaking to them inappropriately online.

When she confronted him about it, Erin said to her quote, �If you ever tell anyone about anything, I will make sure you never see your kids again." She remembered Erin was incredibly controlling and suspicious and just being the kind of asshole who didn't want her to have her own life, like she even remembered him attending her hair appointments. God, that's a little crazy. Yeah, go away, dude. So Angie started seeing a therapist to work through the emotional abuse and the manipulation

that she was facing, and Erin just wanting to control her sessions came along. So Angie was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder from Erin's treatment of her, and Erin was diagnosed with a sex addiction which she chose not to seek treatment for. However, despite his volatile home life, Grant thrived in both school and his budding sports career. His memorial called him a passionate and fiercely competitive pitcher for his baseball team. In fact, by the time he reached high school, he was being scouted by Division I colleges. Starting in elementary school, the Solomon kids attended Grace Christian Academy, which is a prestigious kindergarten through 12th school with a corresponding church.

Now Grant was known to be kind and warm to all who knew him, but took extra pride in the care and protection of his mother and his little sister Gracie. And regardless of what was going on at home, Grant just turned his focus on remaining positive and lifting up those around him. But let's get back to Aaron here for a second. Shithead Aaron. So in 2011, Aaron, who had been working as a morning anchor and a sports reporter for the local news station, WSMV, left the station suddenly.

Now he claimed that it was because he wanted to seek other opportunities, but Angie claims that it was actually because there was inappropriate content found on his phone and his computer. So if it isn't already obvious, things between Angie and Aaron continue to spiral downward. In 2012, Aaron received about a million dollars in inheritance after his aunt passed away. But the payments basically wouldn't be coming in until the following year, so he didn't get this inheritance until the next year. So now, with no job and extreme disposable income, Aaron's illicit behavior became even more erratic.

He allegedly began working as a financial planner for the investment company Merrill Lynch, but shortly after this, he was fired for fraud because he forged a signature on a check that he wrote to himself from an employee of his kid's school. Now this check was in the amount of $1,100 and was flagged for fraud at the school's employee bank, and Aaron was caught and let go from Merrill Lynch. In the beginning of 2013, Erin completely lost control. So Gracie, who is five years old at the time,

came to Angie and said that she didn't want her father to bathe her anymore. And this is gonna get really graphic people. Yeah, we just have one sentence to explain what Gracie is saying. Happened to her, but we do wanna give a little sexual assault warning. So according to Angie, quote, she would beg not to be bathed. Horrified, Angie asked her daughter why, and is unbelievably heartbreaking and disturbing

as this is to say, though it's very important to mention to you guys because it gives you the gravity of how much of a monster this fucking guy is. Gracie said that it was because Erin, her dad, would quote, put things inside her. And we also want to mention that Gracie herself has been very vocal about this as of recent in hopes that it will get both her and her brother justice. So that's why we're sharing this with you. But when Angie confronted Erin about what Gracie told her, he threatened to take the children

away from her if she tried to seek help. Now around the same time, Nashville PD was called to the Solomon's house for domestic disturbance. The responding EMT remembers that Angie and the kids stayed outside while Erin greeted them, seeming quite affable and level-headed in his demeanor to the EMTs. Of course, he wants to make himself look really good. Yeah, like put on a good front. And then he told them that his wife Angie was mentally ill and that she had caused the

issue. However, they observed that when Angie came to speak with them, his demeanor changed and he suddenly became very aggressive and confrontational, and that at one point he'd even lunge to her, stopping only when EMTs stepped between them. So at that point, Angie had already begun just kind of plotting how to escape the marriage without her husband managing to take her children away from her. But according to Angie and Gracie, he kept saying things like, I told you what would happen if you ever talk to anyone about what's going on in the house.

In May of 2013, their relationship reached a boiling point when Erin attempted to strangle Angie with the court of a hair dryer. Erin then brought Angie to a local hospital claiming that she was struggling with, quote, suicidal ideation, and that she had tried to hang herself. Both Angie's parents and Aaron's parents came along for support, but seemed to believe Aaron's account over Angie's account.

In fact, Angie even remembers her own father telling her quote, husbands can do whatever they want to their wives. No, absolutely not. Fuck that. So Angie stayed in the hospital for 24 hours for observation, and according to a note in the records from her stay there, it read, the staff admitted her out of caution despite the confusing presentation of abuse versus a suicide attempt. Dr. Solomon was likely in an abusive relationship with her husband.

It also indicated that she was likely mistreated as a child by her parents. The admitting physician, Michael Murphy MD, according to the chart, spoke to Dr. Solomon's outpatient psychiatrist, who stated that the plan was spoke to Dr. Solomon's outpatient psychiatrist, who stated that the plan was to move Dr. Solomon out of the house safely and obtain a divorce. The chart indicated that Dr. Solomon did not appear to have any signs of depression,

and she was not voicing suicidal ideation. The chart also indicated that the outpatient psychiatrist confirmed that the patient has not had a previous suicide attempt. The admitting physician documented that it does not appear that there's any evidence that the patient tried to hang herself, and I do not believe that she is in an acute mood state that would lead to suicide. Now, later, her chart stated that Erin appeared to be volatile and violent, and that her parents were unreliable sources of information while Angie herself was described as calm and cooperative.

Grant even witnessed this attack, but he and Angie were so petrified of Aaron that they did not report this. About a day later when Angie was released from the hospital, she returned home to an empty house. Because just as promised, Erin had taken the kids away at the first opportunity. So panicked, Angie was advised to get a restraining order against Erin, and then she obtained one, but this did nothing to bring her children back. Days later, with no word from Erin, her in-laws, her parents, or grant and gracy themselves, Angie reported

their kidnapping to the police. And she explains on the family's website that natural police initially took her claim very seriously, but that she was later contacted again after a higher up connection of Erin's had contacted them and Angie was told that there was nothing that they could do for her. So amid pressure from her parents and now the police, she dropped the restraining order. On May 15, 2013, so six days after Aaron tried to strangle her, Angie contacted a lawyer

for help. Through her counsel, she learned that Erin had already filed for divorce, and it also filed a protective order against Angie on behalf of the kids. Around this time, Gracie graduated from kindergarten and Erin prohibited Angie from attending. from attending. Finally on May 26th 2013, Aaron returned home with the kids, but sadly, this did not last because the next morning at 5am, he scooped the children from their beds and took off with them in the car. When Grant realized that he had been taken away from their mom again, Gracie recalled that Grant tried to jump from the moving car and Aaron nearly broke his wrist trying to keep him inside.

These poor kids did not want to be with their horrific father. Yeah, I wouldn't either. So, Angie and Aaron's divorce proceedings continued, and on June 21, 2013, Aaron was legally able to take her children away from her. And Erin, along with the lawyer he obtained and the judge overseeing the divorce proceedings, declined to believe the statements made by the hospital that Angie was not suicidal

and that she was in fact being abused. Erin even convinced Angie's own father to testify against her. Oh god, that just pisses me off. That's your child. Some manipulation. So just like that, her children were gone again. Angie went six months without seeing Grant and Gracie, and even after that, they were

not permitted to stay with her, with Ar Erin only allowing her to attend their sporting events. At one of these events, Gracie, while sitting in the bleachers with her mom, confided in Angie that Erin was still touching her inappropriately in the bathtub. Christmas 2014 is the second Christmas in a row that Erin did not allow Grant and Gracie to visit their mom. A few months later, Gracie again confided in Angie that the sexual abuse was continuing, showing Angie the large reddish purple bruises on her thighs, saying that she has no memory of how she even got them. But Aaron continues to deny these claims and accuses Gracie of making them up.

But Aaron continues to deny these claims and accuses Gracie of making them up. So to keep Gracie and Angie from speaking out about the abuse, Aaron filed a police report against Angie for unpaid child support and then Angie was arrested. Angie at that point claims that he had complete control over the family at this time. And for years, Angie played along to placate her ex-husband and to be able to maintain contact with her children. Then finally, in 2018, friends of Angie's urged her to speak with the officials at Grant & Gracie's school. However, neither the owner and headmaster Robbie Mason nor the founder of the school agreed to help. Even after Angie alerted them that Erin had been using social media to send inappropriate messages to underage female students.

And this is just complete negligence on this school's part. I mean, and the negligent continues. Exactly. In time and time again, Angie's concerns about the safety of her children and the teenage girls at their school who were being preyed upon by Erin went completely ignored. Well, yeah, and actually a social worker even came to speak with Grant and Gracie in like the midst of these allegations coming to the attention of the school, which again is Grace Christian Academy, but the investigation was closed soon after.

So like, it really was, there really is so much negligence in this case, and a lot of it, in my opinion, is on the school. And also, just this community in general, nobody was doing anything to help Angie, Gracie, and Grease. Neither were the police. Like there's so many people that have been involved, so many officials who have let this family down, like over and

over who are taking Aaron's side. Yeah. For why? And you can't help but feel like Aaron is using his privilege and his power to, you know, of course, these people to agree with them. Absolutely. So finally, Grant and Gracie were so fed up with being kept away from their mom that they ran away from Aaron's home, but

they were simply brought back by the police. Then in August of 2018, something happened that would damage this already broken family irreparably. So Gracie, who was just 13 years old at the time, claimed that her father held her down and raped her in a hotel room while they were out of town with Grant for a baseball game of grants. So obviously just feeling terrified and so alone, Gracie told her mom what happened just in hopes of never having to go back to live with her father again. So the day after the rape was said to have occurred, the family happened to have another

custody hearing, but the magistrate judge refused to hear from Gracie and ruled that Aaron should maintain full custody of the kids. This is the next day, and that's what Gracie has to hear. What the hell is wrong with these people? This is what I'm saying, like so much injustice. So Gracie later remembered her father saying to her, if we don't do what the courts say, the police might come and take your mom to prison, you guys are breaking the rules. So as you can imagine, Gracie's mental health really started to deteriorate after this whole ordeal. And one afternoon when Aaron

showed up to pick her up from school, she hid in the school office at Grace Christian Academy and confessed to them what was going on, just hoping that the staff and the headmaster would protect her, which is what they should do. Yeah, that's what you're supposed to do. Yeah, but instead, they insisted that she was being hysterical and sent her home with her dad as usual. At the family's next custody hearing, which was the following month,

the Magistrate judge reversed his ruling and decided that the kids could, in fact, live with Angie, but that ruling was reversed again just days later. According to Angie, Grant bravely said, quote, "'It's okay, mom. If I go with him, he won't be able to hurt Gracie.'" So, fed up, Grant met with the administrators at Grace Christian Academy to plead for more support in the fight against his father, but his requests were ignored. Grant also met with pastor Steve Berger at Grace Christian Church, which is the affiliated

House of Worship, and his concerns were diminished by the pastor, who spoke very highly of his dad, Aaron, and later said that Grant was just attempting to grow closer to God. But Grant's fight for freedom from his father and the safety of his mom and his beloved little sister would soon come to a tragic end. On the morning of July 20, 2020, Aaron asked Grant to meet him to go over some baseball drills. Grant was heading into his senior year at Grace Christian Academy and was being courted by multiple division 1 schools.

Aside from the heaviness of his family, life at this time was very exciting for him, because he had basically proven himself to be a very promising young athlete. So that morning, newly 18-year-old Grant and his father, Aaron, met in the parking lot of a baseball training facility called Ward Performance Institute in Gallatin, Tennessee, which is about an hour away from Franklin. Later, an employee of the facility would confirm that Aaron and Grant never had an appointment. At that point in time, Grant and Gracie were finally living with their mom, and this would be the first time in two years that Grant was alone with his father.

According to Aaron, who we obviously cannot trust, the two of them pulled up next to each other in their trucks and Grant hopped out to get his baseball equipment from the bed of his white Toyota Tacoma. Now Aaron said that he was seated in the driver's seat when he looked down to answer a work email. When he looked up again, his son and his car was gone. Aaron claims that the truck had started to drift backwards and pinned Grant underneath, dragging him down the slope of the parking lot and into the rocky ditch in front of the facility.

Grant was then trapped and unconscious, but Aaron would have no way of knowing this because he never went down to check on his son. After seeing the truck in the ditch, according to him, he stood near his car at the top of the pitched parking lot and at 8.44 a.m., he finally called 911. How to try and where is your emergency? It's 1357 South Lauders Street. It's all 409. Please hurry. He said 57.

Please hurry. Okay, we're going on. 57. My son's truck backed over him, and it rolled over him and drug him into the ditch, and it's on top of it. He's trapped under the truck. Yeah, he somehow had drug him underneath it.

Yes, my son is under it. I'm trying to call 911. Okay, what's your name? My name is Aaron Solomon. And you said 13fts 7 South Water Avenue, right? Yes. How does the mail? He's 18. He just turned 18 and could reach a better month ago.

It's my son. Oh my God. Oh my God, this is not good. Is he awake? Can I see you? I don't know, I don't think so. He's not alert, right? No, he's out. And he's trapped. I got three guys here and he's trapped under the truck. Oh, my God. I understand, sir. Say I'm the phone with me while we get somebody out there.

What's your name? Aaron Solomon. Hi, Aaron. What kind of vehicle is it? It's a vehicle. Aaron Solomon. Aaron. What kind of vehicle is it? It's a Toyota Tacoma Tacoma and the vehicle has, he's underneath the vehicle. Okay, I've got that. Okay, I've got that.

What color is it? It's a white truck that's my son. it's somehow backed up yeah yeah i'm on one with 9101 right now oh my god oh my god

oh my god was your son working on it? No, no. He was just getting out of it. We're on an incline, and I guess he didn't have it in park or something, or it wasn't engaged or... Oh my God. It's a different feeling of responding. Oh my God. It's a good thing to be on a small responding. No, no. And he still wants to try to know when he gets a front under it.

No, it's no. We got a unit in route to you. I'm just asking you questions for we can't update him, okay? Can you check and see for you then? Somebody's telling me that he's coming to. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Is Waking Us kind of keeping still. So we. Oh, I can't move. I don't think he can move. I don't know. Okay. No, we can't move these traps. Okay. We got somebody in round. Now, would he wake up? I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm telling him. I'm to tell him or talk to him.

Yeah, somebody talk to him. Yeah, there's blood, what is he facing up or down? He's facing up, they said he may ask for it, we need to hurry. Oh my god. So does he have blood coming out of his mouth? Yeah, there's blood coming out. Yeah, somehow it's drugging him down, I think. I don't know whether it wasn't in part or whether it didn't engage the brake or it's drugging underneath somehow.

They said he's facing up. Okay. But he's leading from his mouth. So, grant, turn your face to the side if you can. Barely. But be careful. Don't move him, okay? We can't move him.

We can't move him. He's gone. All right, he's in there there. I'm going to let you go, okay? So yeah, take that call how you will. I mean, something that is so weird to me is that he's asking these alleged other people to check if his son is alive, like if he's breathing, like he's not down there next to his son's body to check on what's going on, or if he's even okay,

like, don't you think if this was somebody you cared about, you would run and try to help them, make sure they're alive, like try to get them out. He's just like, oh hey, like, is my son, like, what's my son doing down there? You know, it's like, hello, go check.

What? Yeah, and the fact that he yells down to Grant, like, oh, be careful, like turning your head. That was so weird, like, what, oh, hey Grant, like, what? Like, what, go check on your son, asshole. That was such a weird part of the call. Like, I mean, the whole call, it just everything he's saying, like, oh God, this is bad.

Like, all of his comments feel so forced, and like, he's trying to be like, oh no, oh no, like, this is not an, oh no, this is bad. Like all of his comments feel so forced and like he's trying to be like, oh no, oh no, like, this is not an oh no, this is a, my world is crumbling. Yeah, my son is literally trapped underneath of a truck and is about to die. Yeah, so Angie and Grace raised to the hospital to see Grant, but Aaron was awaiting them and sadly, Grant was gone.

But back to the scene, so many bizarre details raised questions. Like, the three men whom Aaron claimed were helping him were never identified and did not appear to be there at the scene when police arrived just seconds after he got off the phone with the 911 operator, telling her that they were helping his son like Where these they just the police came and they booked it. Yeah, did these guys even exist? Yeah, I mean it doesn't feel like they did So Grant was found in between the front two tires not beneath them and did not appear to have been trapped in any way as Aaron continued to claim The life 360 data from Grant's phone didn't show that he had even made it into the parking lot.

His location data instead stopped in the driveway next to the ditch. But the strangest detail was Grant's injuries. He had no cuts, no scrapes, no lacerations consistent with being dragged through an asphalt parking lot and into a bed of rocks underneath a car. His clothing, his shoes, and socks were all clean, and for a fatal accident of this caliber, he sustained only minor injuries aside from blunt force trauma to the back of his head. Yeah, and that's obviously very, very suspicious. If you have no other marks on your body, but just just blunt force trauma to the back of his head. Yeah, and that's obviously very, very suspicious. If you have no other marks on your body,

but just blunt force trauma to the back of your head. How did the car cause that? And no other injuries. Hmm, right. So in addition to the one laceration, grants only injuries were bruising to his jaw, bruising to his right thigh, and also his left hip. And he was bleeding from his nose and his ears

due to the blow to the back of his head. And oddly, one baseball bat was missing from his equipment and has never been recovered. That is one of the biggest details in this case. Oh yeah. And Aaron's account was also inconsistent, by the way, later saying that Grant's truck had actually reversed into the road in front of the baseball facility and then drifted forward toward Grant, trapping him in a ditch. Grant's car was in park at the scene of his death, but his keys had been left in the ignition, which his mom Angie said Grant would never have allowed to happen.

But it was also strange that Aaron believed Grant had been retrieving the baseball equipment from the better the truck when he always kept his equipment in the back seat behind the driver's seat. After Grant's death, Aaron took possession of the truck, not allowing it to be forensically processed, and in spite of promising it would go to Gracie. So both Angie and Gracie begged to take the truck, but he refused, and later said that somehow

it had been totaled and was being sold at a junkyard auction, like as if this accident had totaled the car. That's so... Meanwhile, there was really no accident that occurred, Like, the car didn't have damage to it. Yeah, it just really seems like he's trying to cover his tracks and maybe cover up some evidence. Well, yeah, so let me bring the truck to a junkyard auction and really get rid of it. So at the hospital, Aaron also refused an autopsy, so Grant's ultimate cause of death was ruled as cardiac arrest and was not looked into further.

Cardiac arrest. 18-year-old kid. First, you claim that he got ran over by a truck and that was supposedly cardiac arrest, but then there's blunt force trauma to the back of the head. None of this makes any sense. No, it doesn't. And the fact that, you know, he's saying, oh, I don't want you to prefer, like you don't want them to perform an autopsy, even though your son just died really suspiciously, like obviously you're trying to cover something

up in my opinion. Yeah, and also if you're claiming that, you know, it was a malfunction of the truck's brakes, why would you not want to get an opinion of an autopsy to maybe prove that that happened. Yeah, so maybe you can like sue the car company, like anything like that. That's a really good point. Yeah, I was just kind of, you know, I don't know, just thinking about that.

But Angie remembers a very chilling detail from that day. So when she arrived at the hospital, Aaron said to her, quote, we're gonna be a family now. Like that just makes you wonder if he thought, like getting Grant out of the way from maybe protecting his sister and his mom would equal to such a statement. Well, yeah, because Grant was stepping up, you know, he was he was challenging his father

to try and protect his sister and also his mom. Because he was a good guy. Yeah, 100%. So the Gallatin Police Department called Grant's death a tragic accident and closed the case very quickly. Disappointing. So the day of Grant's death, Grant's phone was found untouched and unharmed in the ditch, and it was recovered near his body.

But then it mysteriously disappeared. The life 360 data showed that it was driven away from Galatin and back toward Nashville in Franklin. Now, Aaron said that he obtained the phone later that day, maintaining that it had been picked up by a quote, good Samaritan, who was apparently a family member of an employee at the facility, and then they returned it to him. But Angie got the phone back from this mysterious third party, and the screen had been shattered. So yeah, some very suspicious things occurred here.

Grant was adored in his community, and hundreds of people attended his funeral. And at Grant's funeral, Aaron gave a lengthy speech characterized as peculiar by attendees, especially given what Angie and Gracie believed had actually happened, that he had something, or well basically everything, to do with Grant's death. So stepping back into his newscaster persona, it seemed more like the performance of a television personality than a eulogy from a grieving father. At one point, he called Grant's death a godly thing, saying, quote, I've always believed that everything happened for a reason, and I think that was born from my birth father.

My father died in Vietnam when I was seven months old, so for years as a kid, I wondered why, we're all wondering why right now, but then later I realized that it had to be a godly thing. He was the why. If my dad had not died, my mom would not have married the man who loved me, raised me, and moved us to Tennessee, which led to me having two amazing sisters. It also led to me meeting Angie, which led Angie to giving birth to the two most amazing children, Grant and Gracie, Godly things."

In this speech, he also explained how Grant's phone disappeared after his death and that it was only through a godly miracle that had been brought back to them. The pastor at Grace Chapel who again is Steve Berger took this stand and addressed how Grant was such a faithful young Christian that he had visited the office of the pastor just to talk about Jesus. Steve said in his speech, quote, he sat in my office for well over an hour and just wanted to know how he could draw closer to Christ. But those who knew and supported Angie, Grant, and Gracie were upholded by all this because

Aaron and Steve seemed to be using Grant's funeral as like an opportunity to uphold their innocence by sneaking in references to the series of events that had led up to this completely avoidable tragedy. The week of Grant's death, Taylor Swift actually sent flowers to Angie, probably because she lived in Nashville as a teenager and had heard about what happened to Grant, but Erin saw it as a chance to gain publicity and clout, and friends and family remember him obsessing

over the bouquet and the card, just wanting to take pictures with it to show off. Of course he did that. Yeah, I mean, like sure, that's a cool thing that she acknowledged your son's death and did a very thoughtful and kind thing by sending Angie some flowers, but his behavior is just so strange. Yeah, it's like he's just like living it up and like taking this opportunity to like make the whole situation about him. Exactly, so true.

So weirdly, the headmaster of Grace Christian Academy, Robbie Mason, and the pastor of Grace Chapel, Steve Berger, and Aaron Solomon. All threatened lawsuits against anyone who spoke against the school, the church, and Aaron himself, or upheld the beliefs that Aaron had been terrorizing his family for over a decade and that he had raped Gracie and killed Grant. Aaron even sued Grant's best friend, whose name is Win Hicks, for speaking out against him. So Angie just had no idea what to do at this point, but hired a private investigator to further

look into the death of her son, just knowing in her bones that Aaron was lying. After Grant's death, Erin insisted that the couple maintain 50-50 custody of Gracie, writing to Angie, quote, now more so than ever, Gracie needs both parents in her life. But Gracie was terrified of her father and what might happen if she was forced to be alone with him, so she started skipping school to avoid him picking her up. Her mental health was really suffering because of this and the loss of her dear brother, and Angie remembers her breaking out in hives and having panic attacks.

So finally, Angie and Gracie decided to pursue a restraining order against Erin. Two of Grant's best friends, Win Hicks and Anna Smith, even showed up to testify against Aaron in court. The restraining order was granted but sadly because of Grace Christian Academy's administration, Aaron was still permitted on the grounds of the school. After almost a year of searching, Angie finally located Grant's truck at a scrap yard and purchased the truck back. Which is so crazy to me that she was able to find it. I know, just amazing.

So thankfully, it had not been cleaned since it was sold. So she was able to inspect it. And Angie found blood spatter both beneath the truck and get this inside the truck, which completely invalidates Aaron's account of what happened. And because she is one smart lady, she also had the car processed by a professional forensic team, though the findings have not been released yet.

These days, Gracie is living with Angie, the two continue their quest for justice for Grant and for legal ramifications against Aaron, who has terrorized them for the entirety of Gracie's life. Alongside them, they have Grant's beloved long-term girlfriend, Hannah, two of his best friends, Anna and Win, and many other concerned friends, family members, and community members helping them out. While he was alive, Grant fought with everything he had to keep his sister and mother safe,

and now they wanna return the favor by seeking justice for him. So now we wanna share with you guys a video statement that Gracie had released talking about her circumstances pertaining to Aaron. Hi, my name is Gracie Solomon. I'm 16 years old and I'm going to be reading my statement that I wrote when I was 13 years old in 2021.

I filmed a video of me reading the statement and this is my first time rereading the statement since then. I hate my dad. I'm absolutely terrified of him from everything he has done to me, my brother, and my mom. I don't want to call him my dad anymore. He has never listened to me. He has hurt me sexually, physically, and mentally.

He has caused so much pain for my family. He has tried to manipulate me and has manipulated others, and it has worked. Ever since I was born, my dad has done awful things to me. First, he never let my mom bathe me. It was always him. So by not letting mom come in at all, it meant that he could do anything to me. I would always tell my mom I felt like I was more of a wife to him instead of his daughter. He would even bring his phone into the bathroom with him.

At the time, I didn't know it, but I strongly believe he was taking pictures and videoing me. I had to learn to hide my body from him by flipping my hair over because he wouldn't leave me alone while I was showering and getting out. All of my grandparents knew about the abuse and still supported him. When I was at his house at night, I would sometimes feel like I couldn't control my body, and I would get really sleepy and wake up in my dad's bed. At court, dad's attorney got inches away from my face and tried to manipulate me into thinking what my dad

did to me didn't really happen. By saying, do you really think your dad would do something like that? Do you actually remember that happening? Dad would also use Grant's truck as a way to control him too. Grant was so scared of him. He would apologize so much if he didn't anything wrong. Like if he was late to hit or if he was too sick, he was scared dad would get mad. Even if he missed a day of school, the whole rest of the day he was worried about dad. Dad is and was an awful dad to grant. I would never want Grant to even have to know somebody like him, and I am happy for Grant because he will never have to deal with him ever again.

Dad would take any or all of his anger out on Grant. Anger outbursts. He made Grant train all the time and never had a break and visit lots of schools. Dad would stalk Grant and come to every single practice training, trials, just literally anything Grant was at. Dad would be right there. Grant was even scared enough to open up to Pastor Steve about help for our family, Grant Mom and I.

Pastor Steve and Dad lied and said, Grant wanted to talk about his faith and strengthening his faith. That was said during my brother's funeral, even though Mom and I have always known that he went for help because he told us. Grant was my protector and my mom's. I didn't realize how much he protected us.

However, now that he has gone, my dad is attacking me again. Hunter, one of Grant's great friends, told me that Grant had plans to reopen and testify for me and him again in court as an adult. A month after his 18th birthday, he mysteriously died. I want my dad gone. Even sitting here three years later, I still believe that my father killed my brother Grant, abused my brother, abused my mom, and I know he raped me. And I'm here for justice.

If anybody would like to hear her full statement, it is about 10 minutes long and she details a lot more. The link is in the description of this episode, or you can go to YouTube and type in a cry for help Gracie Solomon tells her story. So if you guys are as frustrated as Daphne and I are, here are some ways that you can get involved if you'd like to help Angie, Grant, and Gracie. One, you can sign the change.org petition

urging the Gallatin Police Department to reopen Grant's case and investigate it as a homicide. And the link can be found in the episode description of this episode, obviously. Or you can just google Grant Solomon Change.org petition. 2. There have been two GoFundMe's establish. One will go towards Exuming Grant's body and performing an autopsy.

And the next is for Gracie to pay legal fees for the lawyer that she hired in the fight against her father. And both of those can be found in our episode description if you would like to donate alongside us. 3. You can share Angie Grant and Gracie's story, which is all documented on their website, which is Freedom 4, the number 4 Gracie.com. For they are also on TikTok at at AngieFamPG, Instagram at Freedom for Gracie, and this is

actually FOR this time, not their number 4, and Facebook, which is Freedom for Gracie. Five, if you would like to speak with Angie directly or have any tips in the case of Grant's death, you can email her at FreedomForGracie at protonmail.com or JusticeForGrant at protonmail.com. And 6. You may also call or email the mayor of Gallatin, the chief of police in Gallatin, and the Sumner County District Attorney urging them to open an investigation into Grant's death. So the mayor of Gallatin is Paige Brown. You can call her at 615-4515961 or you can email her page.brownat Gallatin- TN.gov. The chief of police is Don Bandy and you can call him at 615-4521-3133 or email him

dbandi at GallatinPD.org and finally the Sumner County District Attorney is Ray Whitley or Whiteley or whitely, I'm not sure. His phone number is 6154515810 and you can email him by contact at tndagc.com. And if you would like an example of what to write in the email or to say in the call, you can copy this directly. We're also going to post this on our socials if you want to copy and paste it. And it could be something like this. I'm writing to urge you to reopen the investigation into the death of Grant Rhodes, Huffine Solomon. Grant was just 18 years old when he was killed in a suspicious, one vehicle accident involving his own truck. His father, Aaron Solomon, who is known to be violent, vindictive, and abusive was the

only witness. This tragic incident took place at the Ward Performance Institute located at 1357, Southwater Avenue, in Galatin, Tennessee at 844 am on July 15, 2020. Aaron called 911, claiming his son's car had rolled backwards onto him, trapping Grant beneath it. However, the car was in park at the time, and the only injury Grant sustained was blunt force trauma to the back of his head. Later at the hospital, Aaron's father refused in autopsy. I am asking you to reopen this case given the extremely suspicious circumstances under which Grant's death occurred.

suspicious circumstances under which Grant's death occurred. I stand behind Angie and Gracie Solomon in their quest for justice for Grant and freedom from the years of abuse that they've suffered at the hands of Aaron Solomon. Thank you so much everybody for listening to the 300th episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and here's to 300 more. Remember we can all create positive change in this case. Utilize the call to actions that we just mentioned and together we can make a difference for Grant, Gracie, and Angie. They need our help, so please share Grant's story and sign the petition, donate, or write into Gallatin. Yes, this is extremely important.

It doesn't take a whole lot of time to do. Also, if you wanna see photos of Grant, Gracie, Angie, and everything else from this case, head to our socials. We're on Instagram, at GoingWestPodcast, Twitter, at Going West Pod. We also have a Facebook discussion group. Yes, and on the, you know, I can't do this on Instagram because you can't copy and paste anything from Instagram,

but on Twitter, we will and on Facebook, we will post that paragraph that I just read about what you can send to the Galatin mayor as well as the chief of police and the Sumner County District Attorney. And in case you guys don't wanna write something yourselves if you would like an easier way to do it, just copy and paste and send to the email. We're gonna put all that up. So please, please just take five minutes out of your day and help this family after listening to this 45 minute episode. Like, you know, we all have five minutes to try to help

these people and we thank you so much in advance. And thank you for listening to this show. We love you guys so much. All right, guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. 1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 1.5%

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