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A federal judge heard taped testimony from slain teen Tiffany Wright today, saying she had sex with Royce Mitchell, her 36-year-old adoptive brother.
Tiffany, who was shot and killed Sept. 14 as she waited for her school bus, told a detective in the recording she and Mitchell had sex twice. She said she wasn't forced or threatened and that she believed Mitchell was the father of her child, according to the tape.
The tape was made in August during a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police investigation into whether Mitchell committed statutory rape with Tiffany, a 15-year-old junior at Hawthorne High.
Tiffany was eight-months pregnant when she and her baby were killed. Police call Mitchell, 36, a “person of interest” in the killing.
If federal judge Bob Conrad decides Mitchell likely had sex with the minor teen, Mitchell could face up to three years in prison for violating terms of his 2007 prison release. He served five years on a drug-trafficking charge, and his release agreement required him to stay out of trouble. Engaging in sex with a 15-year-old, however, constitutes statutory rape in North Carolina.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police charged Mitchell with statutory rape and taking indecent liberties with Tiffany, but later dropped the charges after a DNA test showed Mitchell was not the father of Tiffany's child. But federal authorities kept him jailed for the hearing today.
To be found guilty, the judge needs only to decide that Mitchell likely committed the crime. Prosecutors do not have to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The hearing began today and testimony could continue into Wednesday.
Mitchell's defense attorney said that Tiffany fabricated the story and made contradictory statements to authorities.
“This never happened,” Claire Rauscher told the judge. “She made this up.”
Tiffany's foster mother Susan Barber also took the stand. She said Tiffany told her that Mitchell tried to persuade the girl to get an abortion and even offered to pay her $5,000.
“She told me she had a deep dark secret … She told me Royce was the father of the baby,” Barber said. “I started to cry.”
