6 years after her son's death, she's fighting to protect Va. police informants

HOPEWELL, Va. -- Six years after losing her son to a drug overdose while working as a confidential informant, a mother is fighting for change.

“I just think that being a confidential informant you have to have guidelines and you have to have checks and balances and you can not take advantage of someone because they are in the disease of addiction,” said Donna Watson. “They need to be treated with dignity just like everyone. They just can’t be thrown away like trash or they don’t have to follow the rules because they are doing something,” said Watson.

Troy Howlett died on July 30, 2018.

The struggling addict was trying to stay out of jail for a drug violation, so he was working with the Hopewell Police Department as an informant.

However, text messages purportedly between Troy and the Hopewell detective he was working with undercover showed he failed his drug tests at least three times in between his controlled buys of illegal drugs.

On Wednesday, Watson and other families met with members of the General Assembly the Department of Criminal Justice Services, the Office of the Attorney General, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission, the Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys, the Virginia Sheriffs’ Association, and the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police to talk about safeguarding informants while continuing to use them to fight the growing drug problem.

“Everyone in this room, this is their goal is to help protect the confidential informants and get the work done to protect them, so we have less people taking drugs and everyone in this room understood, and there was a compassion,” said Civic Innovations Executive Dir. Karen Greenhalgh.

House Bill 428, known as the Troy Bill, was introduced in 2022.

The bill was never passed but it would have prevented those on probation from serving as informants without proper oversight. Watson wants to see another Troy Bill introduced and signed into law.

“You treat people the way you want to be treated," said Watson. "One of the biggest things I would love to have in this bill would be if they are on probation they cannot be a confidential informant. Confidential informants are vital,” said Watson. “The police need their help and it’s working. It’s getting better. The overdoses and the drug dealers are being captured because of the help of the confidential informant."

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia confidential informants were largely credited for the conviction of 17 members of a drug trafficking organization last month after a massive investigation.

An article by former FBI agent Luke Hunt was provided to participants at the roundtable discussion. CBS 6 interviewed Hunt in May 2023 for the Howlett investigation for his work with confidential informants. He is now an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama.

During CBS 6's investigation into Howlett’s death, CBS 6 reached out to the Hopewell Police Department, and the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office concerning Watson’s allegations but did not receive a response.

This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have information to share.

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