An Ohio woman has pleaded guilty to shooting her six-month-old granddaughter. The horrifying incident happened last December in Liberty Township, Butler County, where emergency personnel responded to a call about a gunshot and arrived to find the baby with head wounds. Initial investigations found that Mia Harris, a 43-year-old mom and grandmother, tried to shoot her own daughter but missed. She then turned the gun on the baby, hit her in the head, and fled the scene.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones told reporters they had caught up with Harris and arrested her, but she showed no remorse. When asked why she shot her grandchild, the suspect replied, “That was not my grandbaby. Sorry, not sorry.”
Her daughter TaMia, the infant’s aunt, established a GoFundMe fundraising page where the child’s mom wrote that mental health is a much bigger issue than many people realize. She stated that the person who hurt the baby also loved her, adding, “This is a very hard situation for our family and has changed our lives forever.”
The GoFundMe post confirms that the child, named Myra, is in critical condition at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Myra’s mother, Destiny, asked for “no evil” but prayer and forgiveness. She said she feels no hatred toward her mother, and her sole concern is being by her daughter’s side as she fights for her life. “Mia Harris is a daughter, sister, aunt, niece, grandmother, and I’ll never forget that she is my mother,” Destiny wrote. She conceded, however, that her mother will likely spend many years in prison, and she will need to pick up the pieces of her life and start again. Finally, Myra’s mom asked for peace, saying she would speak more about the incident when she felt ready.
Mia Harris initially faced several charges, but most of these were dropped in exchange for a guilty plea of felonious assault. She will be sentenced in October, and experts say she will likely receive a jail sentence of up to 15 years. Usually categorized as a second-degree felony, felonious assault also carries a hefty fine of up to $10,000 in Ohio.
