A 40-year-old father from Arizona was jailed for 8 years after he beat up a man who tried to enter his daughter’s bathroom stall.
The man passed away from severe injuries after Melvin Harris attacked him. The father was initially charged with second-degree manslaughter but he later pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
According to reports, Harris was picking up his teenage daughter and her two friends from their workplaces when they stopped for a bathroom break and some drinks at a convenience store.
However, a man named Leon Armstrong suddenly barged in and shook the bathroom door where Harris’ daughter was.
Harris’ fiancé, Diana Jackson, said: “I’m not mad at him. I don’t feel like he did anything wrong. I love him. He did what he was supposed to do for our kid. You cannot tell someone they’re wrong for protecting their children. The only thing that goes through my mind is, what would he have got in?”
Court documents show that the security at the store was informed of the incident. The father told them to “take care of the situation or he would do it himself.”
But Jackson said that the security didn’t do enough. “If you know there’s a known problem, why not fix it before it got that far?” she expressed.
When Harris saw Armstrong while they were driving away, he got out and confronted him.
Witnesses said that Harris punched Armstrong, and when he fell down, the father kicked and stomped on him numerous times.
Harris told police that he punched Armstrong in self-defense when the other guy tried to attack him first. Armstrong sustained numerous injuries, including a nasal fracture, brain swelling, and loss of oxygen.
“I would have done the same thing. I don’t feel bad at all for his actions. I feel bad that the man ended up dying in the process. I do,” Jackson expressed, adding Harris is “now he’s a criminal for protecting his child?”
She added: “That’s not fair. It’s not.”
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