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[UPDATE] Tiffany Wright, 15 and Pregnant, Shot at Charlotte School Bus Stop
By Pete Kotz in Sex crimes, homicide, unsolved
Friday, Sep. 25 2009 @ 5:23PM
Tiffany-Wright.jpg
Tiffany Wright has been described by friends as friendly, sweet, and a good student
​UPDATE: Rape charges dropped against Royce Mitchell. See latest story here.

15-year-old Tiffany Wright's foster mother walked the girl to her school bus stop this morning, but was heading back home to get her a glass of water. That's when she heard three shots. She went outside to find Tiffany, eight months pregnant, shot in the head and a car speeding away.

Tiffany was pronounced dead this morning, but doctors managed to save her baby. The child is now in critical condition at Carolinas Medical Center.

Police already have a suspect, but haven't identified him. They'd cordoned off the neighborhood this morning in search for the killer.

UPDATE: Charlotte police have now named Tiffany's foster brother Royce Anthony Mitchell, 36, as a "person of interest" in her murder. He was interviewed by investigators Monday, and the cops have issued warrants on him for the statutory rape of his adopted sister and taking liberties with a minor. They're also looking to see if he's the father of her newborn baby...
Royce-Mitchell.jpg
Royce Mitchell knew police were on his trail for statutory rape
​

Mitchell, who works for the city's maintenance department, has a previous conviction in Buffalo for conspiring the sell drugs. He served five years. Prior to his conviction, he played quarterback for the semi-pro Buffalo Lancers.

Though he has no record in North Carolina, his wife took out a restraining order last year, but the case was later dismissed.

Tiffany also lived in Buffalo before moving to Charlotte, but she was placed in foster care after her mother lost custody for unknown reasons. She was attending Hawthorne High School in a special program for expectant teens. Principal Tracey Pickard described her as a smart, dedicated student who impressed her teachers.

UPDATE II: Tiffany Wright's life might have been saved -- if only Charlotte's sex crime unit knew she was in danger.

Detectives first learned on July 27 that Tiffany was likely the victim of statutory rape by her foster brother, Royce Mitchell. The tip came from a social worker who visited Tiffany's home. At the time, she was already five months pregnant. But it wasn't until last week the investigators prepared to arrest Mitchell. A prosecutor was prepared to sign off on his arrest warrant. But before police could move forward, the girl was gunned down as she waited for a school bus.

There's good chance Tiffany was a victim of an underfunded bureaucracy. In Charlotte, sex crime detectives are often juggling 25 cases at a time. Most departments don't adequately fund these units, in part due to budget constraints, in part due to the traditionally low emphasis placed on crimes like rape. So Charlotte detectives first hunt the cases where the victim is deemed in danger. Tiffany didn't seem to meet that standard.

Police say they attempted to interview Mitchell multiple times, but he declined.

Tiffany had been adopted by his mother, Alma Wright. But when she died in January, Mitchell was given temporary custody of the 15-year-old. He flunked a home assessment by social workers, however, and Tiffany was placed in foster care, where she was living at the time of her slaying.

Despite the unfortunate circumstances of her pregnancy, friends say she was looking forward to being a mother. As they tell, she was hoping to be the good mom she never had.

UPDATE III: Charlotte police and social workers are facing increased heat for their handling of Tiffany's rape and murder.

Shirley Boston, Tiffany's grandmother, says they could have done so much more in the weeks leading up to the pregnant girl's murder. Her rape was first reported to police by social workers all the way back in late July. And even though they had a concrete suspect, her foster brother Royce Mitchell, they still hadn't arrested him seven weeks later at the time of her slaying.

Social workers didn't perform any better in the tragedy. They didn't even know the 15-year-old was pregnant until she was five-months along, nor that the father of the child may have been her 35-year-old foster brother.

Moreover, when Tiffany's adoptive mother died, the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services gave Mitchell temporary custody of Tiffany, though he was a convicted drug dealer and had been the subject of a restraining order just months earlier, when his wife accused him of punching her in the face.

Boston told the Associated Press: "Didn't anyone do a background check on him? If they did, they would have seen he was dangerous. But no one did a thing to help her. To the system, she was a nobody. She just fell through the cracks and now she's dead."

In related news, Mitchell has been fired by the city of Charlotte for lying on his job application.

UPDATE IV: A prosecutor says Royce Mitchell was the father of Tiffany Wright's baby.

Royce, the 15-year-old's stepbrother, reportedly had sex with the girl twice in February after he was given temporary custody of her. But when social workers and police talked to her months later, she initially refused to identify him as the father. She had to be interviewed twice before admitted it was true.

There's little doubt Royce is the prime suspect in Tiffany's murder, though police insist on calling him a person of interest. He's currently in jail on statutory rape charges, and bail has been set at $175,000. But even if he makes it, he'll likely stay confined, since he faces parole violations as well.