Man Accused Of Killing, Dismembering 2-Year-Old Because He Cried Due In Court
An Illinois man accused of killing and dismembering a toddler because he wouldn’t stop crying is due back in court Tuesday, September 5.
Kamel Harris, 42, was arrested last year on charges of first-degree murder, concealment of a homicidal death, and dismemberment of a human body. Police say 2-year-old Kyrian Knox was in Harris’ care when he went missing and parts of his body were found in a lagoon on the west side of Chicago.
The dramatic case unfolded in August 2015, when Lanisha Knox dropped her son off at the home Harris shared with his girlfriend, Danyelle Foggs. Harris said Knox gave them $30 and some diapers and promised to return for the boy when she finished moving from Iowa to Chicago. Instead, Harris told police, a couple he did not know came and took the child but did not bring him back.
Kyrian was reported missing August 20, 2015.
Lanisha Knox told investigators that she attempted to call and check on her son but was unable to speak to him. She said she was not aware he had been missing until September 17, two weeks after his remains were found.
Police say Kyrian was lactose intolerant, and that someone fed him milk, causing him to cry for an entire afternoon. Harris could not stand the crying, and allegedly “snapped.” The toddler was killed in Rockford, but was charged in Cook County because the majority of the evidence was found in Chicago.
Kamel Harris held without bond in death of Kyrian Knox of #Rockford https://t.co/OtawRoooG2 pic.twitter.com/z0jElrCfo7
— Rockford Register Star (@rrstar) November 17, 2016
Harris was charged on November 14, 2016, inside the Winnebago County Jail, where he was being held on a burglary charge. The state claims he dismembered the boy, placed the body parts in plastic bags tied to barbells, and threw them into the Garfield Park Lagoon.
Harris allegedly told a third party that he dismembered the body, believing it would not be identified without the head. Police found the boy’s head, but identified him through DNA.
Harris is also facing allegations that he shoved an Illinois Department of Child and Family Services worker. Foggs, 36, was charged with obstruction of justice in that case. Prosecutors alleged that while police were investigating the Kyrian Knox killing, she gave false information to authorities regarding a daughter she has with Harris because she feared the state would take the child. The charges stemmed from a guardianship document she provided to DCFS that included an incorrect address of where the child was staying. The infant girl was located unharmed, and Foggs maintained she was unaware the address was wrong.
Investigators believe Danyelle Y. Foggs, 36, was one of the last people to see Rockford toddler Kyrian Knox alive https://t.co/TEuwElaW0P
— Rockford Register Star (@rrstar) August 25, 2017
After a bench trial in Winnebago County, the court ruled Friday, August 25, that the state did not prove Foggs knowingly gave the agency false information.
“The state must show not only that the defendant provided false information, but that it was made with the intent to obstruct an investigation and with the knowledge of a falsity,” Judge John Lowry said. “Falsehood, knowledge and intent must converge.”
Kamel Harris is being held without bond.
[Featured Image by Cook County Jail]
