September 15, 2009 4:16 PM
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."
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."
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