Mia Harris, a 43-year-old grandmother from Ohio, has been sentenced to nine to 12 years in state prison for the horrific 2023 shooting of her 6-month-old granddaughter, Myra, who miraculously survived a gunshot wound to the head. Judge Daniel E. Haughey of the Butler County Court of Common Pleas handed down the sentence on Tuesday, condemning Harris’s cruel actions.
The tragic incident took place on December 9, 2023, when deputies from the Butler County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call reporting that an infant had been shot at a residence on Dutch View Court in Liberty Township, about 25 miles north of Cincinnati. Myra’s mother, Destiny Buffington, made the heart-wrenching call, telling dispatchers, “My baby has been shot.” When asked if someone shot her child, she pleaded, “Yes … Lord, please save my baby.” First responders found the infant in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the eye. She was rushed to UC West Chester Hospital, where doctors managed to save her life, reported by the Mirror.
In a plea agreement reached last month, Harris pleaded guilty to one count of felonious assault with a firearm specification, which added three years to her sentence. In exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors dismissed additional charges, including improperly discharging a firearm at a residence and two other felonious assault counts. Court documents also revealed that Harris had allegedly threatened and attempted to harm other family members during the incident, though those assault charges were dismissed as part of the agreement.
At the sentencing hearing, Myra’s mother, Destiny, read a powerful victim impact statement directly to Harris, expressing the lasting pain caused by her actions. “I just want you to know that you changed Myra’s life forever, and what you did was wrong to my daughter,” Destiny said. “You held a gun over me, and I loved you. You hurt me, you hurt my whole family.” Harris, given the chance to speak in court, declined to make any statement.
According to a release from the sheriff’s office, Harris allegedly shot at multiple family members before deliberately aiming at her infant granddaughter. “During the incident Harris shot at several family members before intentionally shooting the child,” the statement read.
Though Myra survived, she remains in critical condition, and the trauma inflicted on the family is profound. As Harris begins her prison term, the emotional scars of that night remain for Myra’s family, with Destiny’s words underscoring the irreversible impact: “You changed Myra’s life forever.”