Tiffany Wright's daughter (conceived by Rape) dies less than a week after Tiffany was Murdered
Her 15-year-old mother, Tiffany Wright was dead, and her first name was listed in hospital records only as "Baby Girl."
But those who knew the infant called her Aaliyah - it was the name her mother had picked out.
Aaliyah died early Sunday, nearly a week after her mother, Tiffany Wright, was shot and killed waiting for her school bus in the Derita area of Charlotte.
Doctors were able to deliver the little girl. But she was in critical condition at Carolinas Medical Center from the start. The hospital confirmed she died Sunday but did not provide details.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, already investigating Tiffany's Sept. 14 shooting death, said they would confer with Mecklenburg prosecutors to see whether Aaliyah's death also should be investigated as a homicide. Police said Sunday evening a cause of death had not yet been determined.
N.C. law on the issue is complex. In this case, it could turn on whether the baby needed life support to survive outside the womb, according to one local expert on homicide law.
Brittany Page, a cousin and friend, said Sunday that Tiffany had looked forward to being a mother. Page has a 17-month girl of her own, and they talked about "spoiling" the kids and bringing them to the park to play together.
"It hurts really, really bad," she said.
Police are calling Tiffany's adoptive brother, Royce Mitchell, "a person of interest" in Tiffany's homicide.
They charged Mitchell, 36, with statutory rape and indecent liberties with a child. They said Tiffany was the victim of those crimes.
Mitchell is in jail and has a bond hearing set for Sept. 25.
He has worked on a street maintenance crew for the city, and served prison time on a Federal Drug Conviction. He was released in 2007, moved to Charlotte and was under four years of post-release supervision.
Tiffany's violent death in the 6700 block of Mallard Creek Road shocked the middle-income community in northeast Charlotte.
It also has raised questions about how Mecklenburg authorities, including Police, the Courts and Social Services, dealt with the rape allegation against Mitchell and the question of who would take care of Tiffany after her adoptive mother died in January.
In February - during the time Tiffany got pregnant - a Mecklenburg court gave Mitchell temporary guardianship even though he was a convicted felon under federal supervision. He later failed a DSS home study, and Tiffany was moved into foster care.
Also, police took nearly four weeks to try to make first contact with Mitchell about the allegation he'd had sex with the minor teen and gotten her pregnant. Mitchell never cooperated with the investigation, and police didn't interview him about it.
Police said statutory rape cases, like Tiffany's, can take time. They also said they had moved forward with the investigation before trying to contact Mitchell.
Tiffany was adopted into Mitchell's family by his mother, Alma Wright, over a decade ago. The two lived in Kings Mountain.
Tiffany went to live with Mitchell in January after Alma died of natural causes at 77. Mitchell tried and failed to become Tiffany's permanent guardian, and this summer she began a new life with a foster mother.
Tiffany attended Hawthorne High and was in the TAPS program for pregnant students.
Charlotte-Meck. DSS accounting practices criticized
Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Commissioners said Tuesday they likely will never know what happened to untold thousands of dollars from the Department of Social Services.
The remarks came after commissioners listened to a report critical of accounting practices at DSS spending programs meant to help children and poor families.
An investigation into alleged misspending at a DSS Christmas charity has been broadened across the entire agency. Officials recently said they cannot say how much money might have been misspent during the last five years.
During a meeting Tuesday, commissioners said it might be impossible to determine how tens of thousands of dollars were spent because receipts are missing or altered.
"I doubt we will ever find out all there was that went wrong," Commissioner George Dunlap said.
A report from the commissioners' Audit Review Committee sharply criticized DSS for "insufficient" financial controls and management.
"At present, it is unclear why or how the lack of controls developed or how long they have existed," the report said.
The findings prompted Commissioner Karen Bentley to ask about accounting safeguards in all the county's agencies.
County Manager Harry Jones said he is "confident" the county has adequate financial controls in place, but added there is "a risk in saying this."
Jones said officials previously have discussed whether the county has "the right financial structure."
Before the public meeting, commissioners met in closed session with Jones to discuss whether he and other top county managers should share some blame for the problems at DSS.
Afterwards, some voiced support for Jones. The committee's report said management's response to the concerns raised in the audit were sufficient.
The DSS accounting failures became public this year when Director Mary Wilson said she and an employee uncovered questionable expenditures and bookkeeping.
Since then the county has suspended two DSS employees who were suspected of taking $110,000. One of them has been cleared of wrongdoing and reinstated, while the other is on medical leave.
County officials say the two oversaw a Christmas charity which cannot fully account for $162,000. That includes a $10,000 check made out to an employee.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are helping the county investigate. No criminal charges have been filed.
Dunlap and other commissioners debated whether they should continue to spend money to investigate what happened and who's to blame. The county paid $93,000 to outside auditors to examine DSS.
Some officials noted that commissioners recently passed a 2009-10 budget that includes cuts in county services, layoffs for hundreds of educators and closing libraries on Sundays.
"The commission has to take the responsibility to make sure we don't pour money into a dark hole," Dunlap said.
But Commissioner Bill James disagreed, saying it is important that the county find out whether managers failed to enforce policies.
"The real question is what's going on at DSS finance," James said. "Who (was) in charge of DSS finance?"
DSS Mishandled, Misused Funding Allocated Specifically For Foster Care Children
Mecklenburg County leaders are promising reforms after a financial audit found widespread problems in the Department of Social Services, including unauthorized use of county credit cards.
A separate report also revealed the county may launch another investigation into whether DSS workers misspent money.
In March, officials said they suspended two workers suspected of taking $110,000 from a charity that solicits money to buy holiday gifts for kids. In a report to the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners this week, administrators said they had turned over the findings of an internal probe to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.
“This shows DSS has serious internal control and cash management problems that (County Manager) Harry Jones and (DSS Director) Mary Wilson need to fix,” commissioner Bill James said.
DSS is one of the county's largest agencies with more than 1,200 employees and a roughly $180 million budget.
Wilson, who took over DSS in July 2008, told commissioners that she ordered the audit after learning this year about accounting irregularities in the charity program.
The county paid $93,000 to Cherry, Bakaert & Holland, which studied records from July 1, 2007 through March 31 of this year.
Among the findings:
DSS workers used two credit card accounts without proper authorization from the county finance director or commissioners.
In 99 percent of financial transactions studied for one program, there were missing receipts, purchases for unauthorized products, a lack of supervisor approval or other problems.
DSS issued checks without two different authorized signatures, a violation of a state statute.
Harry Jones, the county manager, said the county has already implemented new procedures in response to the audit.
“I am very disturbed by the findings,” he said in the report to commissioners. “I can assure this Board and the public that we have fixed and strengthened our fiscal controls ... We also will pursue aggressively any evidence of suspected misappropriation to the appropriate conclusion.”
The report says that DSS will no longer be able to write checks and that all checks will be processed and written by the county finance department. Administrators, the report says, will review DSS financial policies to ensure they match county rules.
The audit focused on a voucher program in which DSS provided financial assistance to help foster parents or caretakers buy needed items for foster children. The program operated on a $167,500 a year budget before officials discontinued it this year.
Wilson said in January she reviewed expenditures for the effort and found some “transactions seemed high in terms of dollars” and often there were no receipts.
Now, officials are working with auditors to determine whether to conduct a more extensive review. The review would try to determine whether workers violated fiscal policies.
The audit also studied transactions involving the Giving Tree program, which takes public donations to buy gifts for foster children and other DSS clients.
Among the well-known supporters of the program is Project Joy, the holiday fund drive initiated by Observer columnist Tommy Tomlinson.
In March, the county said it found multiple checks from November 2008 through January 2009 were made out to an employee who helps with Giving Tree. Other checks were authorized payable to the relative of another DSS employee. The relative is not a DSS worker.
Wednesday, the county said one of the workers suspected of taking money remains on paid administrative leave. The other is on extended family leave.
An internal agency audit found two instances of possible misappropriation. “Other instances of concealment were found, but misappropriation could not be determined due to poor record keeping,” a report says.
County officials are working with police to obtain receipts from vendors, but a spokesman said Wednesday there is no criminal investigation at this time.
The Giving Tree program has been suspended.
DSS Also Mishandled Social Security Money
Mecklenburg County officials paid for "various programs" out of an account for recipients of Social Security benefits, according to an audit of the Department of Social Services.
The practice, auditors say, is a violation of Social Security Administration regulations.
According to the report:
"The non-guardianship expenditures made from the account are in an inappropriate use of the guardianship funds and may be in violation of North Carolina general statutes."
Click here to read the full audit of cash receipts and disbursements.
In response, county officials say they have changed their use of the account.
Officials say effective March 31, "Only expenses related to Social Security guardian funds are expended from the Social Security account."
Click here to read the full response from Mecklenburg County.
DSS Director Mary Wilson, who took over in July 2008, ordered the audit after learning earlier this year about accounting irregularities in a charity program. Read more about the report in today's story, "Audit reveals more DSS problems."
The county paid $93,000 to Cherry, Bakaert & Holland, which studied records from July 1, 2007 through March 31 of this year.
View Larger Map
Sources: Charlotte Observer, Charmeck.org, WCNC, US Dept of HHS, US Dept of Justice, Creepygif.com, Google Maps
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment