Dad jailed for killing man who ‘tried to invade 16 year-old daughter’s bathroom stall’
A father was jailed for eight years for killing a beggar who reportedly tried to invade a bathroom stall his young daughter was using.
Melvin Harris was sentenced to almost a decade in jail on Friday after admitting the manslaughter of Leon Armstrong at a QuikTrip gas station in Phoenix, Arizona, in August 2018.
The killer beat, stomped and kicked Armstrong to death after his child and her friends told him about Armstrong’s alleged attempt to corner her in the bathroom.
He had arrived at the QuikTrip shortly beforehand to pick the children up, with Armstrong initially approaching Harris outside and asking him for cash.
Harris did so. The dead man is then said to have gone to the store’s bathroom and tried breaking into a stall while Harris’ child was using it.
Harris flew into a rage on hearing what allegedly happened, and told a store security guard ‘he needed to take care of the situation, or (Harris) would take care of it himself.’
After the beating, Armstrong was rushed to hospital with brain swelling and a fractured nose.
He never regained consciousness, and died shortly afterwards, 12News reported.
Armstrong was originally charged with second-degree murder, with the allegation against him reduced to manslaughter after he struck a plea deal with prosecutors.
His fiancee Diana Jackson – the girl’s mother – has stood by her husband throughout, insisting Harris was only trying to protect their daughter.
She told 3TV: ‘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.’