Welsh News Network’s coverage of Jose “Chille” DeCastro’s videos related to Jacqueline “Laney” Hudson was interrupted by Hudson’s aunt and mother, who joined the broadcast to make an extended statement about DeCastro and the coverage the family has been receiving from those reporting on Hudson’s death.
Earlier in the day DeCastro had gone live with an update on the case of Jacqueline “Laney” Hudson, who was killed in a police-related traffic accident late last year. DeCastro claimed he was in touch with Laney’s mother, Opal Slone, and when she did not appear DeCastro interviewed someone claiming to be a witness to the aftermath of the accident. DeCastro played several interviews taken in the days following the accident and implied that he had the support of the family in the broadcast. He directed his followers to send in donations to the family’s gofundme account and went on his now-standard tirades against the police. https://gofund.me/eaa02ebb
Welsh News Network went live a few hours later with a scheduled panel discussion of DeCastro’s three broadcasts about Laney Hudson. Welsh’s panels typically are filled with irreverent humor and poke fun at the subjects they discuss; this time, however, the humor was gone as the panel took a direct look into DeCastro’s actions and apparent attempts to exploit the family’s loss for his personal gain.
During the first hour of the broadcast a number of comments were posted in the side chat from users claiming to be members of Hudson’s family. They expressed disbelief that their family member was being covered by anyone on YouTube. This ultimately led to Amber Brescoach, Laney’s aunt, joining the panel. Brescoach indicated she had Hudson mother, Opal Slone, at her side who answered questions but refused to be on camera.
After a brief interaction with the entire panel, Welsh made the decision to clear the panel and bring on Tina Slay, whose son was killed by police and had negative interactions with DeCastro in her quest to find justice, to speak directly with Brescoach and Slone.
Brescoach and Slone expressed displeasure with those who were using Hudson’s name and picture for personal gain. Brescoach explained that Slone had been receiving negative e-mails from DeCastro after refusing to appear on his live streams and were unaware that others were covering her daughter’s story. Welsh stated that he was only trying to bring light to DeCastro’s actions to the family’s attention as DeCastro has a habit of negative interactions with families who experience police related deaths.
Tina Slay gave a brief account of her interactions with DeCastro, including his self-invitation to live at at Slay’s house for 10 days and the disrespect he showed her family during that time. She stated that his involvement cost her months in both her recovery from the loss of her son and in her quest for justice. She urged Brescoach and Slone to seek legal representation and not to have further dealings with anyone seeking coverage for their YouTube channels, including DeCastro, and let the investigation into Hudson’s death play out without interference from outside parties.
Brescoach and Slone appeared overwhelmed with the information provided by Slay and asked her to forward the videos DeCastro has made in which he profited off of Hudson’s story and image. They also requested that channels stop discussing Hudson’s story and using her image, singling out the use of her name and image in attempts to defame or damage other parties. Welsh News Network and Tina Slay, with backing from several other YouTube channels, agreed to the terms and the Brescoah and Slone left after a virtual hug offered by Slay and accepted by Brescoach on behalf of Slone.
As a non-profit quasi-news outlet, Auditing Insanity will continue to cover updates in the investigation of Hudson’s death if the topic is brought up on live streams. We will not, however, cover those live streams that use her name or image to attack other creators, including Chille DeCastro. We will continue to cover DeCastro if he live streams or makes statements about Hudson and his involvement in the case. Questions or concerns about this decision can be left in the message area below (open to anyone without registration) or sent directly to jamesknine@reallycoolsite.org.
DeCastro has scheduled a live stream entitled “Justice for Laney: Opal Sloan” (SIC) on January 15, 2023 at 12:30PM ET.
