Man charged with 2009 murder of pregnant adoptive sister to face judge

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department charged Royce Anthony Mitchell, 45, with the 2009 murder of Tiffany Rena Wright.

Officials say a tip from the community helped police gather enough evidence to arrest and charge Mitchell.

Mitchell is expected to appear in court Monday.

Wright was shot in the head and died while waiting for the school bus on Mallard Creek Road in north Charlotte in 2009.

She was eight months pregnant and managed to give birth to a baby girl. The baby Aaliyah only survived for six days.

Mitchell is Wright’s adoptive brother and someone who has been on investigators’ radar all along.

He was charged with statutory rape after Wright’s murder, but the charges were dropped because DNA showed Mitchell was not the father of Wright's baby.

Wright's grandmother Shirley Boston said she is relieved.

"So happy, so glad things are finally coming to an end. For him, to know he did not get away with that," Boston said.

Boston told Channel 9 she plans to be in the courtroom when Mitchell faces a judge.

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