Court records: Grandmother broke down locked door, shot grandchild at close range

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WXIX/Gray News) - Bond was set at $1.5 million Monday for the Liberty Township woman accused of deliberately shooting her granddaughter in the head and critically injuring her.

Mia Desiree Harris shot her granddaughter in her eye at an apartment on Dutchview Court early Saturday after firing the gun at other relatives, including the baby’s mother, during an argument, according to Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones.

Court records released Monday reveal Harris, 43, “knowingly caused serious physical harm” to her granddaughter “by breaking down a locked bedroom door after firing a handgun through it multiple times.”

Harris tried to shoot the baby’s mother in the head, but missed, and then shot the child in the head at close range ”as the infant laid on the bed,” a criminal complaint states.

“My baby’s been shot. My baby’s been shot,” the mother said frantically while holding her baby during a 911 call.

Harris also allegedly punched one person in the face with a fist.

“The baby is in grave condition,” a prosecutor told the judge when Harris made her first court appearance in the case.

The baby was initially taken to University of Cincinnati West Chester Hospital and then flown to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Avondale.

She underwent two surgeries and remains at the hospital in critical condition.

The sheriff’s office said over the weekend the baby is 6 months old, but court records released Monday state she is just over 5 months old.

Harris was charged with three counts of felonious assault based on footage that was captured on deputies’ body-worn cameras, witness statements and interviews, a detective wrote in the criminal complaints.

The sheriff said her charges are subject to change as the investigation progresses.

Witnesses told deputies at the scene that Harris was the shooter.

After the shooting, she fled the scene, but was apprehended a short time later after she pulled over on northbound Interstate 75 near Kyles Station Road, according to the sheriff’s office and police radio reports.

The case will return to Butler County Area 2 court on Wednesday unless Harris is indicted first by a grand jury.

“Words do not do justice to the magnitude of the allegations,” Butler County prosecutor Mike Gmoser said in a statement Sunday night to WXIX.

“This case will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and I thank Sheriff Jones for his excellent investigation.”

Jones has called the case “one of the most disgusting, vile criminal acts” he has ever seen.

“What makes it even worse is this is the baby’s grandmother,” Jones said.

If Harris is released from jail after posting bond, she is under a court order to stay away from minors and the victims.

“The baby is hanging onto life as we speak,” he told FOX19 NOW Saturday afternoon. “It’s in God’s hands now. We should all pray for this baby.”