Phoenix dad sentenced for killing man after restroom incident with daughter
Dec 17, 2019, 2:30 PM | Updated: Dec 18, 2019, 7:59 am
Melvin Harris III (Maricopa County Sheriff's Office)
(Maricopa County Sheriff's Office)
PHOENIX – A Phoenix father accused of fatally beating a man who allegedly tried entering a bathroom stall occupied by his daughter last year has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
Melvin Harris III, 41, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a Class 2 felony, on Nov. 4. He was sentenced Friday, with 496 days’ credit for time already served.
He’d originally been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Leon Armstrong following an Aug. 2, 2018, incident at a Phoenix convenience store.
The case drew national attention, with some people siding with Harris for defending his daughter while others condemning him for a violent overreaction.
“Given all of the facts and circumstances of this case, we feel this is a just outcome,” Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel said Tuesday in an email to KTAR News 92.3 FM.
According to court documents at the time of his arrest, Harris went to the QuikTrip near 19th and Dunlap avenues around 11:30 p.m. to pick up his teenage daughter and her two friends.
When Harris’ daughter and her friends exited the store, they told Harris that a man tried to get inside their closed and locked stall door in the women’s restroom.
The daughter told an employee and the employee then told an on-site security guard.
As Armstrong exited the store, Harris’ daughter identified him as the man who tried to go into the restroom.
Harris then approached the security guard and said “he needed to take care of the situation or he would do it himself,” according to documents.
Harris then got back into his vehicle and pulled up to a gravel area where Armstrong had moved to.
Witnesses said Harris approached Armstrong and punched him in the face, causing him to fall, according to documents.
Harris then allegedly struck Armstrong in the face several more times and kicked and stomped on him before getting back in his car and leaving the scene, according to documents.
Armstrong was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries and died a few days later.
Police said Harris admitted his involvement when they showed up at his home and arrested him.
During an interview with officers, Harris admitted to punching the victim in the face but said it was only because the victim had swung at him first, according to documents.
Harris also denied hitting the victim while he was down on the ground.
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