Major Harris case: New details of Milwaukee police investigation
MILWAUKEE - The case of missing 3-year-old Major Harris – found shot and killed in Milwaukee – captivated people across the country in October.
Now, newly-obtained court filings provide a clearer picture of what transpired in the hours after the body of Harris' mother, 25-year-old Mallery Muenzenberger, was found.
Milwaukee police quickly zeroed in on the man who they say was responsible for the deaths of Harris and his mother. Still, numerous questions surrounding the case remain.
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It was shortly after 6 a.m. on Oct. 14 that Milwaukee police got a call: A man reported a dead body in the backyard of his home near 37th and Clarke. There, police found a woman dead.
The woman's body, according to court filings, appeared bruised and bloodied. She was barefoot, yet her feet appeared relatively clean. The discovery of the woman, later identified as Muenzenberger, kicked off an Amber Alert for her missing son and the man police say was responsible for their deaths – 20-year-old Jaheem Clark.
Major Harris, Jaheem Clark
The court filings detail that Clark was developed as a suspect just hours after police showed up at the home. The man who called police lived there with Clark's mother and their children, including Jaheem.
Filings said Clark's mother received several text messages earlier that morning from a number she did not recognized, but believed they were sent by her son over an hour-and-a-half span.
At 2:38 a.m., one text read: "Don't let anybody in the house without paperwork I didn't do it Ma am I promise she was down here messing with some other dudes and they dropped her off where they picked her up at she came in and layed down and i guess she tried to leave."
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Ten minutes later, another text read: "If anybody ask you, you never saw her never met her you don't gotta speak on my behalf and say I did or didn't do anything just know I'm telling you the truth."
When police were given permission to search the home, "detectives located blood in the rear stairwell that leads to the upper" where Clark's bedroom was.
Clark was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a relative's home three days later as police closed-in – blocks away from where Muenzenberger's SUV was found and, later, where Harris' body was found in an alley.
Mallery Muezenberger (photo provided by family)
The young boy was believed to have been killed around the same time as his mother; both of them were shot.
While the documents provide more detail about the beginnings of the investigation, which police say is now closed, a number of questions remain, and it is unclear if they will ever be able to be answered.