Patterson Pleads Guilty in Wright Killing

The plea to second-degree murder is a conviction, and 125 to 162 months is the sentence a judge imposed. Her lawyers said they dispute who fired and took the deal rather than try a first-degree case. Lightner is still only charged, and a November trial date is not a verdict.

Mia Patterson, now 20, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Mecklenburg County to second-degree murder in the shooting death of Elijah Wright, 21. She was sentenced to 125 to 162 months in prison.

Wright was shot shortly after 1:30 a.m. on July 22, 2024, at an apartment complex in the 8900 block of Rachel Freeman Way, near Steele Creek Road in Charlotte. Officers found him with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Patterson and her boyfriend, Logan Lightner, were arrested without incident in October 2024, when both were 18, and charged with first-degree murder. The plea is to second-degree murder, a lesser count.

Investigators said Wright and Patterson had been exchanging messages, that he believed he was meeting her, and that video showed her arrive in an SUV and then leave following Lightner's vehicle. Her lawyers told the court they do not agree with all of that account. They said Wright fired first and Lightner fired back, and that she is a mother who did not want to risk a trial.

Lightner, now 20, is still charged. His trial is set to begin Nov. 26. The plea resolves Patterson's case only.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.