In Charlotte court, ‘heartbroken’ family sees murder suspects who beat 12-year-old boy
Two adults who police say beat a 12-year-old boy to death made their first appearances in court Monday.
Ahmad Wrighten died at a home in the 5600 block of Sunwalk Court in north Charlotte late Thursday night, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department news release.
CMPD officers arrested Anthony Wigfall, 34, and Demetria Robinson, 32, Friday, police said. A judge Monday said they both faced first-degree murder charges. They were appointed public defenders.
Officers responded to a 911 call for an assault with a deadly weapon and found the boy had “sustained apparent trauma,” police said. He was pronounced dead at Atrium Health hospital.
Initial reports suggested the boy was shot, but WSOC, the Charlotte Observer’s news partner, reported he was beaten to death.
Family told WSOC Ahmad was visiting from Charleston for a graduation in Charlotte. He was staying with Wigfall, his sister’s father, when the assault happened.
Wigfall’s neighbor, Thaddeus Johnson, 70, has lived in his home — the one next to the crime scene — since 1995. He didn’t know the boy’s family well, he said. They mostly kept to themselves. But he’d wave anytime kids played in the backyard, which was often.
Michael Wrighten, the boy’s great-grandfather, said Ahmad was “running for his life” when a man caught him and dragged him back, WSOC reported. He was beaten in front of a four-year-old girl.
“We’re not doing very well,” Wrighten told WSOC. “We’re heartbroken and I don’t mind if the world knows it. I’m heartbroken; we cried together [Sunday] at church services.”
Ahmad’s mother set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for her son’s funeral arrangements while her family navigates this “horrible nightmare.”
The family is waiting for autopsy reports before making funeral arrangements.
This story was originally published June 21, 2023 at 2:49 PM.
