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Christy Harris Froze Milk for Her Four-Month-Old. It Outlasted Her.
Published 3 weeks, 6 days ago
Description
In 2014, Christy Harris froze more than fifty bags of breast milk for her four-month-old daughter and wrote the date on every one. That September she was found dead in her bed, and the autopsy called it an accidental heroin overdose. Her family had never known her to use heroin — and Christy had already told a co-worker that if she ever turned up dead, they should look at her husband. Seven years later, the milk she had labeled for her baby was part of the case that proved her right.
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Christina Ann Harris, known as Christy, was 36 years old and living in Davison, Michigan, when she was found dead in her bed on the morning of September 29, 2014. She had two daughters. The younger was four months old.
An autopsy completed that October gave the cause of death as heroin toxicity and the manner as accidental overdose. Her family disputed that finding for years. In 2019 the medical examiner reviewed the case and changed the ruling to homicide, and her husband, Jason Harris, was arrested the same year.
He was tried in November 2021 on charges of first-degree murder, solicitation of murder, and delivery of a controlled substance causing death, and was convicted on all three counts on November 17, 2021. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He has maintained that he is innocent. The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction in February 2024, and in September 2024 the Michigan Supreme Court declined to review the case.
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This account is drawn from the criminal and civil court proceedings, the medical examiner's findings, and published reporting. It is current through the appellate action described above.
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Christy's daughters are not named in this episode.
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Christina Ann Harris, known as Christy, was 36 years old and living in Davison, Michigan, when she was found dead in her bed on the morning of September 29, 2014. She had two daughters. The younger was four months old.
An autopsy completed that October gave the cause of death as heroin toxicity and the manner as accidental overdose. Her family disputed that finding for years. In 2019 the medical examiner reviewed the case and changed the ruling to homicide, and her husband, Jason Harris, was arrested the same year.
He was tried in November 2021 on charges of first-degree murder, solicitation of murder, and delivery of a controlled substance causing death, and was convicted on all three counts on November 17, 2021. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He has maintained that he is innocent. The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction in February 2024, and in September 2024 the Michigan Supreme Court declined to review the case.
---
This account is drawn from the criminal and civil court proceedings, the medical examiner's findings, and published reporting. It is current through the appellate action described above.
---
Christy's daughters are not named in this episode.