Liberty Twp. grandmother accused of shooting baby pleads not guilty by reason of insanity

A Liberty Twp. woman accused of shooting her infant granddaughter in the head entered a not guilty by reason of insanity plea Tuesday during arraignment in Butler County Common Pleas Court and will be evaluated for competency to stand trial.

Mia Desiree Harris, 43, was indicted Friday on three counts of felonious assault and improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation, all second-degree felonies.

Attorney David Albrecht orally filed the two motions during the hearing, and Judge Dan Haughey ordered the forensic psychological evaluations. Harris is scheduled to be back in court Feb. 27 for a hearing on the evaluation results.

She is being held without bond until the evaluation is completed.

Harris is accused of shooting the 6-month-old girl and assaulting two others shortly before 2 a.m. on Dec. 9 at Lakota Pointe Townhomes on Dutchview Court.

The baby remains hospitalized, and her condition has improved, according to officials.

Harris is being held in the Butler County Jail in lieu of $1.5 million bond.

During a preliminary hearing last month in Butler County Area II Court, Butler County Sheriff’s Office Detective Dan Turner testified describing the shooting scene as chaotic.

Court documents signed by Turner say Harris struck a person in the face with her fist and “broke down a locked bedroom door after firing a handgun through the bedroom door multiple times.”

Harris allegedly assaulted another person by trying to shoot them in the head at close range, “but missed,” then shot the child in the head while the baby was lying on a bed, according to the complaints.

There was a tussle in the bedroom, Harris dropped the 9-millimeter Ruger, and it was discovered under the bed, Turner said.

Harris then left the apartment in a Buick Enclave, and was seen trying the wrong way on Interstate 75 near the Monroe rest area, before driving back to the apartment where she was arrested, he said.

Harris told detectives the girl wasn’t her granddaughter and, after shooting the baby she was, “Sorry, not sorry,” Turner testified.

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