Main: Mia Harris appearing in court for sentencing (WLWT). Inset: Baby Myra almost a year after being shot by Harris (WLWT).
A 43-year-old grandmother in Ohio is going to spend several years behind bars for intentionally shooting her then-6-month-old granddaughter in the head and showing no remorse.
Butler County Court of Common Pleas Judge Daniel E. Haughey on Tuesday ordered Mia Harris to serve a sentence of nine to 12 years in a state correctional facility for the 2023 shooting of young Myra, who miraculously survived the horrific attack, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Harris reached a deal with prosecutors last month, pleading guilty to one count of felonious assault, including a firearm specification that adds three years to her sentence. In exchange for her plea, prosecutors agreed to drop two other counts of felonious assault and one count of improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation.
The dropped felonious assault charges were related to Harris allegedly attacking other members of her family on the night of the shooting.
Prior to Haughey handing down the sentence, Myra’s mother spoke in court, reading a victim impact statement that addressed Harris directly, Cincinnati CBS and CW affiliate WKRC reported.
“I just want you to know that you changed Myra’s life forever, and what you did was wrong to my daughter,” Myra’s mother, Destiny Buffington, reportedly said. “You held a gun over me and I loved you. You hurt me, you hurt my whole family.”
Harris declined the opportunity to address the court during Tuesday’s hearing.
The series of events began on Dec. 9, 2023, when deputies with the Butler County Sheriff’s Office at about 1:50 a.m. responded to a residence in 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 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.”
“Someone shot your baby?” the 911 operator asked.
“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. The child was taken to aUC West Chester Hospital in critical condition. Authorities later confirmed that Myra suffered a gunshot wound to the eye.
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. “The child remains in critical condition at this time.”
A 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. Harris shot her granddaughter in the face after breaking down the door.
The grandmother fled before deputies arrived but was taken into custody a short time later.
When asked why she did it, Harris told deputies, “That was not my grandbaby. Sorry, not sorry,” Detective Daniel Turner testified in court, local ABC affiliate WCPO reported.
When police asked Harris if she thought she should be punished, she responded “No,” according to Newport, Kentucky Fox affiliate WXIX.
“Why?” a detective asked her.
“Because fair is fair,” Harris responded. “You attempted on me and I beat you at your own game. Checkmate.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones did not mince words when previously 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.”
Buffington last week updated a GoFundMe page for Myra’s ongoing medical expenses, saying that donations are “crucial” in assisting with the now-18-month-old’s recovery.
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