[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A grandmother in Ohio has been accused of intentionally shooting her five-month-old granddaughter.
Mia Desiree Harris (pictured above, mugshot) has been charged with felonious assault in Butler County, Ohio related to an incident from early Saturday in which a five-month-old infant girl was shot in the face. Per cops, the 43-year-old woman allegedly shot the baby in the eye — and it was on purpose.
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Speaking to Fox 19 Now, Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones laid it all out as clear as he could:
“It wasn’t an accident. It was on purpose.”
The incident occurred an hour or two after midnight on the morning of December 9. At 1:50 a.m., police were called to a townhouse in Liberty Township, Ohio, on a report of “an infant being shot,” per a press release.
Once they arrived at the scene, officers found a baby girl suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. First responders transported her ASAP to UC West Chester Hospital. As of late Tuesday night, per People, she remains there in critical condition.
Police say Harris had been shooting at other family members in the home leading up to the incident. Then, at one point, and for reasons unknown, she turned the gun on the child. The sheriff’s office press release notes:
“Mia Harris, the grandmother of the child, was identified by witnesses as the shooter. During the incident Harris shot at several family members before intentionally shooting the child.”
The release went on to add:
“[Harris broke down] a locked bedroom door, after firing a handgun through the bedroom door multiple times … then shot [the infant] in the head at close range while laying on the bed.”
Harris fled the area after the shooting, but cops quickly arrested her. They charged here with three counts of the aforementioned felonious assault. As of Monday, her bail was set at $1.5 million, per WLWT News.
Now, as of Tuesday night, the infant is still clinging to life in the hospital as doctors frantically work to stabilize the baby and try to assure its survival. Sheriff Jones told Fox 19 Now:
“The baby is hanging onto life as we speak. It’s in God’s hands now.”
Just absolutely beyond sickening. Ugh.
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
To learn more about the impact of gun violence, visit https://www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/gun-violence.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or go to https://www.thehotline.org/.
[Image via Butler County Sheriff’s Office]