John Jefferson
Inset: Mia Desiree Harris (Butler County Sheriff). Background: The apartment where Harris shot her granddaughter (WXIX).
A 43-year-old Ohio grandmother admitted to shooting her 6-month-old granddaughter in the eye in a shocking case in which the baby miraculously survived.
Mia Desiree Harris, 43, pleaded guilty to felonious assault on Tuesday, online court records show. Two charges relating to alleged assaults on other family members were dismissed.
The series of events began on Dec. 9. Deputies responded at 1:50 a.m. to the 6800 block of Dutch View Court in Liberty Township — about 25 miles north of Cincinnati — for a report of an infant being shot, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
In the 911 call, the mother told dispatchers, “My baby’s been shot. My baby’s been shot,” local affiliate WXIX reported.
“Someone shot your baby?” the 911 operator asked, the station reported.
“Yes … Lord, please save my baby,” she replied.
As Law&Crime previously reported, first responders located the victim, who appeared to have suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones told local Fox affiliate WXIX that the baby was shot in the eye. The child was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Her condition has since improved beyond expectations, the Journal-News reported.
The infant victim was not the only family member Harris allegedly attempted to harm.
“During the incident Harris shot at several family members before intentionally shooting the child,” the sheriff’s office wrote in the release.
A copy of the criminal complaint filed in Butler County Area 2 Court states that Harris also “knowingly” caused “serious physical harm” to another victim, whose name is redacted, by “striking [that person] in the face with a fist.”
“Harris then broke down a locked bedroom door, after firing a handgun through the bedroom door multiple times,” the document states.
Authorities say that Harris was quickly named as the main suspect after several witnesses identified her to detectives as the shooter. She fled before deputies arrived but was taken into custody a short time later.
When asked why she did it, she told deputies, “That was not my grandbaby. Sorry, not sorry,” Detective Daniel Turner testified in court, local ABC affiliate WCPO reported.
She also told investigators that “her family was trying to take all of her money and then leave and she was not going to allow that to happen. They crucified her, so she crucified them,” WCPO reported, citing Turner’s testimony.
Jones did not mince words when discussing the case with WXIX.
“It wasn’t an accident. It was on purpose. This is one of the most disgusting, vile criminal acts I’ve ever seen, shooting a 6-month-old baby. What makes it even worse is this is the baby’s grandmother,” Jones told the station. “She went and shot this child and doesn’t appear to have any remorse whatsoever. I feel sorry for the baby, the family, everybody that’s dealing with this. The doctors, the life squad people, the deputies, everybody. This is as bad as it gets.”
The sheriff also called the case disgusting and “one of the worst things I’ve seen.”
Harris faces 15 years in prison when she is set to be sentenced on Oct. 29.
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.
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