Infant girl of murdered teen dies
Pregnant mother shot and killed at bus stop
Updated: Sunday, 20 Sep 2009, 4:45 PM EDT
Published : Sunday, 20 Sep 2009, 4:40 PM EDT
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - The infant girl, born to a murdered 15 year old girl, has died, nearly a week after her mother.
Tiffany Ranae Wright was shot and killed Monday morning, as she waited for her school bus along Mallard Park Drive. She was rushed to the hospital, and her infant girl was delivered by doctors at Carolinas Medical Center.
That infant died Sunday morning, according to a spokesperson for Carolinas Heath Care System.
Funeral arrangements were announced earlier this week.
Visitation will be at Calvary Christian Church on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. The funeral will follow at 11:30 a.m. and interment will be at Oaklawn Cemetery.
On Thursday, the school where Wright attended held a joint memorial service for her and Ja'ron McGill. McGill died a few months ago in a separate and unrelated gun violence incident.
Following the services, students and staff went outside to release purple balloons in memory of the two students.
Tiffany Wright's adopted brother, Royce Mitchell, 36, turned himself into police Monday afternoon on charges of allegedly raping her earlier this year. He is being called a person of interest in connection with Wright's murder.
Meanwhile, the teen's grandmother, Shirley Boston, is blaming the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for not protecting her granddaughter from Mitchell.
The CMPD, however, said they had been investigating the rape allegation for nearly two months, but didn't bring charges until after Wright's death because of a backlog of sexual assault cases. Boston says that was no excuse.
Authorities said they were looking into whether Mitchell was the father of Wright's baby. Mitchell was charged with statutory rape and taking indecent liberties with a child.
Mitchell has not been charged with Wright's murder, but he is being held in the Mecklenburg County jail without bond.
Also on Wednesday, the City of Charlotte released a statement concerning Mitchell's employment status. He was hired as a member of the Charlotte Department of Transportation's street maintenance crew in 2007. A spokeswoman for the city said Mitchell has been terminated for "falsifying his employment application."
Spokeswoman Kim McMillan said the city checked his records for criminal offenses at the local and state level. Some of his federal records were reviewed but not all of them, she said.
"To ensure a more comprehensive review of all applicants, the City will expand background checks to include a search of federal offenses throughout the country," McMillan said.
On Tuesday, Mitchell appeared in court but said nothing as judge Kimberly Best read the charges filed against him. The suspect appeared over closed-circuit TV and did not appear to show any emotion according to WBTV Reporter Dedrick Russell who was present in the courtroom.
Police say they are still following some strong leads in the case but there's no word, yet, if detectives plan to interview Mitchell again concerning Wright's death.
Neighbors who escorted their children to the bus stop Monday morning where Wright was shot were visibly shaken upon hearing the tragic news of Wright's death.
The incident happened as the teen's foster mother said she went inside the house to get Wright a glass of water. The foster mother told police she later heard at least three gunshots. When she went outside, she discovered that Wright had been shot.
When police officers arrived, they found Wright lying on the street suffering from a single gunshot wound to the head.
The CMPD said the shooting was no random act of violence and that it was the result of a domestic dispute. By 4:30 p.m., the CMPD said Mitchell walked into CMPD headquarters with his attorney and turned himself in.
This is not Mitchell's first encounter with the law. According to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, Royce Mitchell's wife, Andria, filed a domestic violence order of protection against him on May 6, 2008. She alleges that he threw her out of their bed, punched her in the face leaving her with a black eye, bruised jaw bone and a headache.
In 2006, he was acquitted in a 1998 drug-related murder in Buffalo, New York.
Wright was an 11th grade student at Hawthorne High School which offers a variety of programs including one designed for students who are pregnant. Additional counselors were at the school on Monday providing assistance to students and staff. A large banner was placed in the cafeteria in memory of Wright.
Mon Sep 14, 5:14 PM EDT
A pregnant 15-year-old was shot in the head and killed Monday as she waited at a North Carolina school bus stop, and her baby was in critical condition.
The shooting followed a domestic dispute and authorities had identified a supect, said police spokesman Rob Tufano, who declined to elaborate.
Tiffany Wright, who was eight months pregnant, was shot before dawn at a stop in north Charlotte. She attended Hawthorne High School, a school with a special program for pregnant teens.
Wright was found by her foster mother, who had just walked Wright to the bus stop and returned home, Tufano said. She heard at least three gunshots and went outside to find Wright in the street.
Wright was rushed to Carolinas Medical Center, where she later died. Hospital spokeswoman Katie Ratchford said the baby was in critical condition.
Wright was described as a smart, focused student.
"It was clear that Tiffany was academically strong and off to a good start," Hawthorne Principal Travey Pickard told The Charlotte Observer.
Pickard didn't return a telephone message from The Associated Press, but Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools spokeswoman Cynthia Robbins said grief counselors were available for students.
Students said Wright always had a smile on her face.
"She loved to joke. I'm like, devastated, like a lot of people," Cameron Blakeney, a sophomore, told the newspaper. "We're all pretty torn up on the inside."
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