Grieving Father Defends Estranged Wife Who Has Mental Illness for Allegedly Shooting Their Son to Death

grieving father boy shot by mother Fallon Harris Lavell Ingram Kaden mental health illness paranoia mental health Mia Harris

By Lilian Scott , Parent Herald Sep 16, 07:28 am

Photo: (Photo : TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP via Getty Images)

A grieving father from Chicago has spoken up and defended his estranged wife after she shot and killed their 12-year-old son over a missing memory card. Lavell Ingram said that Kaden was the joy of his life, and while the pain of his tragic death was hard to describe, he still defended Fallon Harris, 37, the boy's mother.

Ingram said that his estranged wife is a loving mom to Kaden. She loved her son "more than anything in the world." However, Ingram and the rest of the family knew that Harris was suffering from a mental health illness, which might have driven her to pick up a gun and shoot Kaden two times on the head.

The whole incident between Harris, who works for the Chicago Department of Transportation, and her 12-year-old boy was caught on the home camera that Saturday morning.

Two Shots Fired

Harris asked Kaden about a memory card she took from their car, but her son did not know what his mother was looking for. When he couldn't provide the card, Harris pointed a revolver to her son's head and fired one shot that left the child "conscious and crying."

While Kaden was down on the floor, his mother briefly answered a phone call and then returned to demand the memory card again. Kaden once again told his mom that he didn't know where the card was, and that's when she fired the second shot that killed her son.

Realizing what she did, Harris called two family members to say that she shot her son, and they called the police and Ingram. Harris was cooperative when the cops came and showed her licensed gun to the officials who arrested her.

According to reports, Harris was in tears when she was brought to court, where the judge denied bail and ordered a health care assessment. Family members told the investigators that they had concerns about Harris' mental health, and they encouraged her to seek a therapist. The day before the incident with her son, Harris had therapy for the very first time.

Ingram said that no one knew what would transpire, and while they told his ex-wife to get help for her mental health illness, Harris might have reached her boiling point that tragic day. The father said he was still close and in contact with his ex-wife because they co-parented Kaden. Their son was his ex-wife's best friend.

Ingram feared that Harris would be a danger to herself if what happened to their son sank in.

'Not Like Herself'

The father told Chicago-Sun Times that they recently separated after 16 years of marriage. While Harris' increasing paranoia and distrust wasn't the main problem in their marriage, Ingram said it contributed to their estrangement. Her mental health illness got so bad that it affected her eating and sleeping routine, and she lost a great deal of weight.

Mia Harris, Kaden's grandmother, said that she knew something was wrong with her daughter, so she flew in from Arizona days before the incident. The grandmother said she had to see her daughter because she "didn't sound like herself" in their phone conversations.

Even her co-workers wanted the mother to get help for mental health issues. Kaden and her older sister, Brianna, 18, were also aware of their mom's struggles but didn't know why her behavior changed.

Mia said that her daughter opened up to her one time and said she wanted to be her old self again. No one in their very large family believes that she can be a violent person.