HAMILTON, Ohio — A Liberty Township woman was sentenced to prison Tuesday for shooting her infant granddaughter in the head.
Mia Harris was in court Tuesday where she was sentenced to at least nine years for shooting her then-6-month-old granddaughter.
Harris was arrested Dec. 9, 2023, by Butler County sheriff's deputies after officials said she shot at several family members before intentionally shooting her grandchild.
Harris originally pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but she changed that plea to guilty in September.
Officials said Harris dragged a family out of bed and assaulted her, resulting in two family members locking themselves in a room with the baby. When she entered the room, Harris shot at the child's mother, grazing her head, before shooting the 6-month-old who was lying on the bed, Det. Daniel Turner said at Harris's preliminary hearing. Harris then picked up the child, handed her to the baby's mother and smiled before leaving the house and fleeing the scene, Turner said.
"She said, 'That was not my grandbaby' and at one point she said, 'Sorry, not sorry,'" Turner testified.
On Tuesday, the child's mother spoke in court, sharing new information about her daughter's recovery.
"I have locks of my daughter's hair from multiple surgeries because I didn't know if I would see her again," Destiny Buffington said.
Buffington said her daughter, Myra, is continuing to undergo surgeries and recover.
"She is currently undergoing treatments to deal with paralysis on her left side," Buffington said. "She was shot on the right side of the face, and the damage was to the right side of her brain."
The mother said her daughter spent 65 days in the hospital with three surgeries. She has a fourth surgery scheduled in 2025.
Buffington said it's been a long healing journey, and there's still miles to go.
"I just want (Harris) to know, that (she) changed my life forever, and what (she) did was wrong to my daughter," she said. "You held a gun over me and I loved you."
