Father of toddler beaten to death devastated

[NMDemDist2]

Source: El Paso (TX) Times

The parents of 2-year-old Milayna Harris, who police say was beaten and killed late Monday by her godparents, arrived in El Paso from overseas and are now fighting for custody of their 4-year-old son.

The preschooler, Jailen Harris, who allegedly also was abused by his godparents, was reunited Thursday with his father, Army Sgt. Earl Harris III. He is divorced from the children's mother, Sheree Harris, who is also a soldier.

Earl Harris was serving in Iraq when he was called and told about his daughter's death. He traveled more than two days to get to El Paso -- where he had never been before -- and now is battling his ex-wife over funeral arrangements for their daughter and custody of their son.

"My son hasn't asked for his mom, yet. He asked for his sister," he said. "He's asking to go to the park to watch Pokémon."

Late last year, Jailen and Milayna Harris were placed with Army Staff Sgt. Nakia J. Dawkins and Shawntrell Dawkins, while Earl Harris and his ex-wife were stationed overseas. The Dawkinses have been arrested and charged with capital murder and injury to a child in the slaying.

Read more: http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_8897057

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It's not just the soldiers dying from this damnable war.

:cry:

[Berry Cool]

1. What an awful story.

I only hope this poor man and his ex-wife get their son back.

I wonder: where IS the mother in all this? Strange. (To edit: Yeah, I know she's in Iraq, but no comment?)

[NMDemDist2]

2. she was in Germany and was supposed to bring the kids over there

just an awful story

[China_cat]

3. I have never understood why the government

is sending BOTH parents to war zones. Even when the couple is still together.

It makes no sense at all...even less than this damned war to begin with. Take the one with the most needed skills. Or rotate them. Take one and leave the other at home with the children then switch. As it is the kids end up with 2 dead parents, 2 maimed parents (physically and/or emotionally) or what we see in the OP.

[TomInTib]

5. Two things....

The mother isn't in a war zone, she is in Germany.

And the military has all manner of regulations in place regarding dual-placement. But the idiot mother allowed the circumvention of those regs and the idiot father simply wasn't paying attention. The idiot parents should be court-martialed for allowing those monsters to maintain custody of those kids. Everyone but those poor children bears some responsibility on this one.

[Whoa_Nelly]

7. In a perfect world everyone makes perfect choices and decisions

In the Bush/Iraq/military real life world many do not have the resources, the options, the intellect, the maturity, and/or the foresight to make choices or major decisions about their lives, their children, their futures. Many simply make do, and hope for the best because it's all they can do.

This is a tragic outcome of any or all of the above.

[China_cat]

15. But I HAVE seen reports of both parents

being sent to war zones...one to Iraq, one to Afghanistan. The military might have regs, but they do their best to try not to let anybody hold them to them.

My niece and her husband are both in the Navy...nukes. They just had a baby. She's on a carrier, he's on a sub. My sister may end up with her grandchild if both get sent to the gulf. No opting out for either of them.

[ToughLuck]

4. This is too sad..sick bastards that could do this

Two parents should not be deployed at the same time..a no brainer..unless your in a war with no end in sight, you have to pull crap like this..way to go Bush!

[TomInTib]

6. The idiot, irresponsible parents should face court-martial.

They both allowed a circumvention of set policy.

From the article:
"Lt. Col. Les Melnyk, a Department of Defense spokesman in Arlington, Va., said that when children are left behind because of their parents' deployments, the Defense Department requires a family-care plan. The plan must include all paperwork that a temporary custodian of a child would need to care for that child.

"It is a requirement that dual- military couples have a family-care plan. The Army will tell you this as well," Melnyk said.

Earl Harris said that although the original plan was to have his children say with their aunt, he knew the children were going to stay with the Dawkinses, but only for one month. Sheree Harris, he said, was going to go to Germany, get situated and come back for their children."


The parents share their own part of the guilt. And you can bet that there will be action taken. The Army doesn't like crap such as this one bit.

[truedelphi]

8. No one is pointing out that you cannot necessarily know who will or won't be an abuser

From remarks in this discussion, you would think that ABUSERS had big red letter A's tattooed on their foreheads.

As someone who narrowly escaped being molested by an older male relative when I was eleven, I can say from experience that the molesters and abusers out there aren't necessarily the ones with the cars on blocks in the front yard, or the broken screens on the side porch.

The relative involved was a community leader, tall, and handsome, a deacon in his church and the idol of my parents' eye.

THe idol of my eye too - until I needed to jump out of his car as it approached a stop sign, and run the three miles back to the safety of my parents, hoping he wouldn't get to me first. (And I couldn't bring myself to tell them for another six years - he told me everything he tried to do was my fault!)

[TomInTib]

9. My point is...

the idiots knowingly circumvented established practice and policy.

I really doubt they were intelligent enough to make the right decision, but that is beside the point. They allowed this to happen by being either too lazy or just plain not giving a damn.


As traumatic (and, unfortunately, all too common) as your experience was, this is a different thing altogether.

Personally, I cannot understand why two members of the Armed Forces would continue to have children while on active status. But that is another story, I suppose.

[truedelphi]

10. Tom, this is happening all over the place.

I have friends here in Lake County who work with Foster Care agenices, and it is not uncommon for the kids to face very tough times when one or both parents are in the service.

So far no kids in Lake COunty have ended up dead, and the agencies do their best to see that the homes are decent ones. However it does seem that many of these kids wouldn't be "outsourced" to foster care if we were paying those in the military enough to support a wife and kids, or a husband and kids if it is the wife in service.

We seem to have endless dollars for Halliburton, and Blackwater, all 140,000 of them in Iraq, but pennies to the dollar for the enlisted grunts.

[TomInTib]

14. Damn.

I must admit, I am more than slightly out of touch when it comes to situations such as these.

But I still strongly believe that when one has children, then they come first and foremost - no matter what.

[China_cat]

16. A 'family care plan' is nowhere near the same thing

as keeping one parent with the kids...EITHER parent. Or swapping off.

Family Care Plan is not an adequate solution. It's not a solution at all...it's just paper.

[TomInTib]

17. What I don't get is why in the world the DoD allows a couple with children...

to both remain on active duty.

[China_cat]

18. I can see both remaining on active duty.

Posts don't run themselves and you wouldn't expect a civilian family to give up one source of needed income simply because the other had to travel for his/her job.

It's the deploying of both at the same time that seriously bothers me.

[TomInTib]

19. I guess that is where I was going...

I often find myself word-challenged.

[Forrest Greene]

11. Sadly, It More & More Seems As If

"...the relative involved was a community leader, tall, and handsome, a deacon in his church and the idol of my parents' eye..." is your big red letter A's tattooed on their foreheads, right there. What a world we've built.

[truedelphi]

12. It is sad. What I didn't mention - he was charming as well --

And financially well set for life.

[Liberal_in_LA]

13. What an awful story.