Fox News Today:
An Arizona father who authorities say fatally beat a man who allegedly tried to follow the dad’s teenage daughter into a restroom stall was sentenced Friday to eight years in prison.
Defendant Melvin Harris, 41, accepted a plea deal on a manslaughter charge after initially facing a second-degree murder charge in connection with the 2018 incident, FOX 10 of Phoenix reported.
Harris was waiting outside a QuikTrip convenience store in Phoenix, after arriving there to pick up his daughter and two of her friends, The Arizona Republic reported.
Melvin Harris III was accused of fatally beating a man after the suspect allegedly tried to enter his daughter’s locked restroom stall. (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office)
When his daughter came out of the store, she told him that a suspect later identified as Leon Armstrong had tried to enter her stall inside the store’s restroom.
Harris asked a store security guard to handle the situation – or else he would handle it himself, police and court records said, according to the Republic.
The father later told police that Armstrong took a swing at him, so he reacted by punching, kicking and stomping on Armstrong, who died several days later from a severe brain injury, according to FOX 10.
Harris had pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charge last month, according to the Republic.
