No Bail For Man Charged With Killing And Dismembering Crying Toddler
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Cook County judge has denied bail to a Rockford man accused of killing and dismembering a 2-year-old boy last year, because the lactose-intolerant toddler wouldn't stop crying after he was given milk to drink.
Kamel Harris is charged with first-degree murder, concealing a homicide, and dismembering a body in the death of Kyrian Knox, whose severed head, hands, and feet were found in the Garfield Park lagoon over the 2015 Labor Day weekend.
Harris appeared in court Wednesday afternoon, and a judge ordered him held without bail.
Police have said Kyrian's mother left the toddler with Harris and his girlfriend last September while she moved from Rockford to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. While Kyrian was staying with Harris, the boy was given some milk and cried all afternoon, because he was lactose intolerant.
Chicago Police Cmdr. Kevin Duffin said Harris "snapped" and killed Kyrian, then dismembered the boy's body, dumped his remains in the Garfield Park lagoon, and reported the child missing to the Rockford Police Department.
"The major break in the case was the fact that he had denied that the baby had been inside his vehicle," Duffin said. "Once we took the vehicle with a search warrant, we tore out the carpeting and recovered the baby's blood in the vehicle."
Kyrian's grandmother, Cameshia Harris, was incredulous at the motive police shared.
"And that's a reason to kill a baby?" she said. "And dismember him? And throw him away like he was nothing?"
Cameshia Harris said she was "so pleased" that Kamel Harris had been arrested, but she said, "it just brings it all back."
