The first clip below shows Tiffany Wright's biological Grandmother Shirley Boston speaking out to the NY media about her granddaughter's death.
I also know that per Charlotte-Mecklenburg DSS Ms. Boston was not allowed to attend Tiffany's funeral, nor will Charlotte officials tell her where Tiffany is buried. This is a shame! I guess local Charlotte DSS and Law Enforcement Officials are desperately trying to hide Negligence in Tiffany's death.
(Remembering Tiffany Ranae Wright)
Prior to being murdered Tiffany Wright was pressured by her suspected killer to have an Abortion
Royce Mitchell was pressuring 15-year-old Tiffany Wright to end her late-term pregnancy – even taking her to an abortion clinic – according to new court documents that may shed light on why police say Mitchell should be prosecuted for statutory rape.
The documents, released Tuesday, say Mitchell took Tiffany – his adopted sister – to a Charlotte abortion clinic in July, but she was turned away because she was too far along at 21 weeks. So Mitchell planned a trip to an Atlanta clinic within days where Tiffany's pregnancy could be terminated.
Tiffany was eight-months pregnant when she was gunned down on Sept. 14 as she waited for her school bus. Doctors delivered her baby girl, but the infant later died.
Police call Mitchell, 36, a “person of interest” in the homicide, but they haven't charged him. Mitchell was jailed on charges of statutory rape and taking indecent liberties with a minor.
But those charges were dropped last week by prosecutors, after a DNA test showed Mitchell was not the father of the baby. Without Tiffany alive to testify about any sexual encounters, prosecutors said the case lacked enough evidence to prosecute.
The move angered police, who released a statement critical of the decision. The statement said police believe there is “probable cause” based on “evidence gathered” to prosecute Mitchell on the sex charges – even without DNA evidence to prove that they had sex at least once.
The new information today comes from two affidavits asking a judge for search warrants of Mitchell's home and an apartment.
The affidavits say Tiffany's foster parents reported that Mitchell picked Tiffany up on July 20 about 10:30 p.m. “to take her to visit a dying relative.” Tiffany later reported she was really being held against her will by Mitchell and an unknown female “as they attempted to convince Tiffany to engage in an abortion by non-medical personnel,” the affidavits say.
Mitchell also scheduled an abortion in Atlanta and wanted to pick up Tiffany at 5 a.m. the next day from the foster home to take her there, the affidavit says. Tiffany refused.
The search warrants allowed police to seek evidence in Mitchell's home at 6921 Wandering Creek Drive and at an apartment at 1625 Flat River Drive, which police say Mitchell visited hours after Tiffany's homicide.
At his home, police seized a T-shirt, shorts, a tank top and a letter. No items were seized at the Flat River Drive apartment, according to the documents.
Mitchell remains in Mecklenburg jail under a Federal warrant because the arrest on the sex charges might constitute a violation of Mitchell's supervision agreement that followed his release from federal prison in 2007.
He was sentenced in March 2002 to 70 months in prison for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy. He was placed on four years post-release supervision upon his release.
As part of the terms, Mitchell must have a job, meet regularly with a federal officer and stay out of trouble.
Infant girl of murdered teen dies
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.
If you have any information about this shooting, call 704-332-TIPS or call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
Grandmother of murdered teen speaks out
A local woman is calling for justice, after her pregnant granddaughter was shot and killed at her bus stop in North Carolina.
The grandmother of Tiffany Wright calls this a tragedy that could have been avoided.
Tiffany Wright had a rough life.
The Buffalo native was put into foster care at age two.
This January her adoptive mother died.
"She was only 15, and the trauma, her life was a sad life," said her grandmother, Shirley Boston.
Her grandmother Shirley Boston, of Cheektowaga, says she recently formed a relationship with Tiffany who lived in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"Although I had contact with Tiffany, I didn't understand how she had been removed from one place to another place to another place, and why she hadn't contacted me," Boston said.
Shirley says after Tiffany's adoptive mother died, she was left in the care of her adoptive brother 36-year-old Royce Mitchell, also of Buffalo.
On Monday, Tiffany was shot in the head while waiting at her school bus stop.
Tuesday, Royce was taken into custody in Charlotte.
Police say he's a person of interest in the shooting death of Tiffany Wright.
A social worker filed a statutory rape report against Mitchell, in July.
Mitchell wasn't charged with rape until after Tiffany's murder.
Mitchell, a former Bennett High school football player has a troubled past himself.
He served prison time for dealing drugs.
in 1998 he was indicted in the killing of Gary Foster on Glenwood Avenue in Buffalo, but Royce was later acquitted in 2006.
As for Tiffany's grandmother, she says she wishes she could have done more to help her granddaughter who was crying out for help.
"I believe this could have been avoided," Boston said.
Tiffany was eight months pregnant when she was shot and killed.
Her baby is in critical condition.
Brother Questioned in Pregnant Teen Slay
Police said Tuesday they were investigating whether the 36-year-old brother of a pregnant teenager killed at a school bus stop fathered the girl's baby.
Royce Mitchell was also being questioned in the death of his sister Tiffany Wright, 15, who had been adopted by Mitchell's parents. However, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police spokesman Bob Fey characterized Mitchell as a person of interest rather than a suspect.
Wright, an 11th-grader at Hawthorne High School who was eight months pregnant, was shot early Monday while she waited at a school bus stop in north Charlotte. She later died at a hospital. Police have said the slaying stemmed from a domestic dispute.
Wright's baby was delivered at Carolinas Medical Center hours after the shooting. The child had been in critical condition Monday, hospital spokeswoman Katie Ratchford said. A hospital spokeswoman declined to provide the baby's condition Tuesday morning.
Mitchell turned himself in Monday on an outstanding warrant charging him with statutory rape and taking indecent liberties with a minor. It was unclear whether those charges were related to Wright.
CBS News affiliate WBTV in Charlotte videotaped police officers escorting Mitchell Monday night wearing an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs.
He was being held Tuesday in the Mecklenburg County Jail without bond. He will likely retain an attorney after an initial court hearing on Tuesday. Mitchell was a street maintenance worker for the city.
Wright's grandmother, Shirley Boston of Buffalo, N.Y., said the girl was born in the northeastern New York city, where her father also lives. Boston said Tuesday that Wright was placed in foster care after the girl's mother lost custody. Boston said she does not know how her granddaughter ended up in Charlotte.
Wright was shot before dawn at a stop in north Charlotte. Hawthorne High School has 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, police spokesman Rob Tufano said. She heard at least three gunshots and went outside to find Wright in the street.
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."
Western New York connection to North Carolina murder
The murder of a pregnant North Carolina teenager, who was born in Buffalo, has devastated her family in western New York.
The teen's child is fighting to survive and the suspect is the victim's adoptive brother.
A former Bennett High School football star is now in handcuffs in Charlotte, North Carolina, because he's the person of interest in the murder of his pregnant 15-year-old adopted sister.
Police say Tiffany Wright, who was eight-months pregnant, was shot in the head Monday while waiting at her school bus stop, as a result of a domestic dispute.
Her baby is now in critical condition.
Tiffany was born in Buffalo and put into foster care at age two.
She was later adopted by the mother of the person of interest, 36-year-old Royce Mitchell.
When Mitchell's mother died in January he became Tiffany's legal guardian, at the same time she became pregnant.
Months before that, social workers filed this statutory rape report, but Mitchell was never taken into custody.
"There were no indications that she was in any time of harm or danger," said Captain Pete Davis, of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
It was only after Tiffany's murder this week that Mitchell was charged with the rape.
"I don't think there was anything I could've done any differently. I would've hoped it would've turned out differently," said Detective Teresa Johnson.
Mitchell has not yet been charged with Tiffany's murder.
He does has an extensive criminal history here.
He served years in prison for drug activities, and was acquitted in a 1998 murder.
The victim's biological grandmother lives in Cheektowaga.
News 4 spoke with her by phone and she says she's obviously heartbroken.
She met Tiffany back in 2008 and together they decided Tiffany would live back here in WNY permanently.
That never happened, and now the grandmother is hoping she can have custody of Tiffany's baby, if it survives.
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Sources: WIVB, WBTV, McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, CBS News, NY Post, Ohio.com, Google Maps
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