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Man Charged With Murder And Dismemberment Of Lactose-Intolerant 2-Year-Old Kyrian Knox Who Cried When Given Milk

By Phyllis Asinyanbi
Published on: 05:22 PST, Nov 16, 2016

Kamel Harris, of Rockford, Illinois was charged with murder Tuesday in the death of 2-year-old Kyrian Knox, who was from the same city. The boy was killed, dismembered, and disposed of in a lagoon in Chicago’s Garfield Park neighborhood. His body was found in September 2015, and the Chicago police vowed to find the killer. It was disclosed that the alleged murder was committed because the lactose-intolerant child would not stop crying after he was given milk.

Chicago Police Commander Kevin Duffin stated that an unnamed individual said before the murder, the lactose-intolerant boy had drank milk. He cried all day from the pain, and Duffin said Harris “kind of just snapped,” reported DNA Info. DNA evidence revealed Kyrian had been in Harris’ car, which the suspect had previously denied. Along with the first-degree murder charge, Harris was also charged with concealment of homicidal death and dismemberment of a body.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DMcDAqiBkY

There is a back story on how Kyrian came to be under the alleged murderer’s charge. The 41-year-old man and then live-in girlfriend, Danyelle Foggs, both said that the Kyrian was dropped off by his mother, Lanisha Knox, 24, who was going to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to train for a new job in August 2015. Harris’ daughter, Shakela, also had a 2-year-old son, and she also dropped him off with Harris at the same time. Foggs has three children of her own: a 21-year-old, a 16-year-old, and a 2-year-old.

Foggs stated that the arrangement was an indefinite one and that she never agreed to take care of two additional 2-year-olds and that the children were dropped off with Harris — not her. She claimed to not have been involved with any aspect of their care and said that Harris was the sole caretaker.

The timeline is unclear, but once she was settled in Iowa, Lanisha attempted to retrieve her son. She was then told by Harris and Foggs that they turned the boy over to three people who came to pick him up. When the couple was later questioned by Rockford police officials, they made the same statement. However, they could not name the three individuals who picked up Kyrian. Later, Foggs said that she never actually saw Harris give the boy to anyone.

Lanisha stated that she never gave permission for anyone to pick her son up and didn’t understand why no one spoke with her, reported Fox 6 Now.

“Somebody showed up to their house, and picked him up, saying that I said pick him up. I’m like, you never talked to me, so what are you talking about?”

The toddler’s head, feet, and hands were found in the Garfield Park Lagoon on September 5, 2015, but was not identified until months later. The torso was missing, and the lagoon was drained to locate it, but it was never found. It was determined that the body parts had been there for about two weeks. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the case was disturbing, DNA Info added.

“Some incidents create a lasting memory and last year on labor day weekend 2-year-old Kyrian Knox became one of those memories. Back then we said we would not give up without bringing his killer to justice. We kept our promise.”

Initially, Harris and Foggs were not persons of interest, but their failure to cooperate and to name the people whom they said picked up Kyrian aroused suspicion. It was Harris who allegedly filed a false missing-persons report with the Rockford police on September 17, 2015.

Foggs was not charged with a crime, but not long after the report was filed, DCFS removed her two minor children from the home and placed them in foster care. She has expressed sorrow over Kyrian’s death but is also angry that she no longer has custody of her own children. She blames both Lanisha, who Foggs said rarely asked about her son and Harris daughter, Shakela. It was, according to Foggs, Shakela — not Lanisha — who texted that Kyrian was lactose-intolerant and could only drink almond milk. Foggs said if the “two girls” had not dropped off their children, she would still have hers, reported the RR Star.

Now that Harris has been charged with murder, perhaps there is a measure of peace in the Garfield Park neighborhood. Police even went door to door to see if neighbors knew what happened, and the case was solved.

[Featured Image via Chicago Police Department]

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