An Ohio grandmother admitted this week that she intentionally shot her sleeping 6-month-old granddaughter in the face, saying she was “sorry, not sorry.”
Mia Desiree Harris, 43, unleashed a violent rage on her granddaughter, Myra, when she used a 9-milimeter pistol to fire multiple shots at the baby’s wooden bedroom door. She then broke the door down and shot the baby in the eye, according to court documents.
During the violent encounter on Dec. 9, 2023, Harris also punched a person in the face and assaulted another person by trying to shoot them in the head at close range — but missed — before shooting the baby, court records show.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said the family was arguing in their Liberty Township home when Harris grabbed the weapon, WXIX reported.
The unremorseful grandmother told deputies that Myra “was not my grandbaby” and said “sorry, not sorry” when asked why she unloaded her gun at the child’s face, Detective Daniel Turner testified in December, WCPO reported.
Investigators also learned of Harris’ deep resentment for her family.
Turner further testified that Harris believed her family was trying to “take all of her money and then leave” and she wasn’t going to allow that to happen, adding that Harris wanted to “crucify” her family, according to WCPO.
Harris pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a felony assault charge for the shooting, according to the Journal-News.
Additional charges relating to the other assaults on family members were dismissed in exchange for the plea.
Myra, who miraculously survived the incident, is recovering and improving beyond expectations, the Journal-News reported.
The Butler County Sheriff’s Office responded to the family home around 1:50 a.m. after Myra’s mother reported to police that her baby had been shot, Jones said in a news release.
Myra’s mother begged 911 dispatchers to “please save my baby,” WXIX reported.
Police found the baby in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the eye. She was taken to a local hospital where she underwent two surgeries, police said.
Authorities said that Harris fled the scene but was quickly taken into custody after witnesses identified her as the shooter.
“This is one of the most disgusting, vile criminal acts I’ve ever seen, shooting a 6-month-old baby,” Jones told WXIX at the time.
“What makes it even worse is this the baby’s grandmother,” he said.
Harris is being held at the Butler County Jail and faces 15 years in prison when she is sentenced on Oct. 29.
