A Mecklenburg County jury has convicted 34-year-old Jamie Briggs of second-degree murder for the July 2020 shooting death of 57-year-old Roscoe Wright Sr. on Coliseum Drive in East Charlotte, a killing that also left the victim's son wounded. A judge sentenced Briggs to 44 to 56 years in prison, closing a case that took six years to reach trial.
According to Queen City News, the confrontation began as a brief physical altercation between Wright Sr. and Briggs, during which Wright shoved Briggs. Surveillance records show Briggs then approached the victims while brandishing a .40 caliber handgun and pointed it at them, the outlet reported. Wright's son, identified in court records as RJ, punched Briggs in the back of the head during the encounter, causing Briggs to fall. Prosecutors say Briggs then shot Wright Sr. twice, once in the head and once in the upper chest, killing him. Briggs also shot RJ in the leg and shot himself in the leg during the altercation, per the same report.
A Six-Year Wait for a Verdict
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police arrested Briggs on July 10, 2020, the day after the shooting, initially charging him with first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to Charlotte Alerts News. The shooting happened at an apartment complex on Coliseum Drive near Independence Boulevard, where emergency personnel pronounced Wright Sr. dead at the scene.
The jury ultimately found Briggs guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree murder, along with assault and weapons possession by a felon. The Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office announced Thursday that its dedicated Homicide Team, which operates under District Attorney Spencer B. Merriweather III, prosecuted the case and secured the convictions, according to the Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office.
Prior Manslaughter Conviction Compounded Charges
Briggs had a previous conviction for voluntary manslaughter, which made his possession of a firearm during the 2020 shooting a standalone felony charge. Under North Carolina General Statutes § 14-415.1, possessing a firearm after a prior felony conviction is a Class G felony carrying a potential sentence of 31 to 47 months, depending on a defendant's prior record level, according to the Federal Defense NC law firm. Second-degree murder itself is classified under North Carolina General Statutes § 14-17 as either a Class B1 felony, punishable by 16 years to life, or a Class B2 felony, punishable by 10 to 40 years, depending on whether malice is established through intent or reckless indifference, per FindLaw.
North Carolina lawmakers have since moved to toughen penalties further for repeat offenders. In December 2025, the General Assembly enacted S.L. 2025-71, creating aggravated felon-in-possession offenses that elevate gun charges to a Class C felony when a convicted felon discharges a firearm during a crime, according to the UNC School of Government.
A Case Born of Charlotte's Deadliest Year
The Coliseum Drive shooting occurred during 2020, a year in which Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police reported 122 homicides, matching a historic high last seen in 1993 and marking an 18.4% jump from the 103 homicides recorded in 2019, according to WCNC. That same year, police seized 2,265 firearms from city streets, a 9% increase in gun confiscations over the prior year, per WBT.
The six-year gap between the shooting and this week's verdict reflects a broader backlog in Mecklenburg County's court system, where multiple 2020 violent crime cases have only recently reached jury verdicts or plea agreements. Hoodline previously reported on another delayed East Charlotte case that closed earlier this summer, part of the same wave of pandemic-era homicide files finally working their way through court.
It remains unclear from available records whether Briggs and the Wright family knew each other before the argument that led to the shooting, or how RJ has recovered from his leg injury in the years since. Briggs, now 34, will serve at least 44 years behind bars under the sentence handed down this week.
