Angry father beats man to death for trying to get in his daughter’s bathroom stall, cops say

When a strange man followed his daughter into the bathroom, police say, an Arizona dad asked security guards to “take care” of the situation or he’d do it himself. Now the dad faces second-degree murder charges for allegedly beating the man to death, ABC 15 reported.

Police say 40-year-old Melvin Harris III went to pick up his daughter and her friends at a QuikTrip gas station In Phoenix the night of Aug. 2, according to the station.

As he waited, a man came up to his car and asked for some money, which Harris gave him, police said in a report. The man then walked into the gas station.

Later, Harris’ daughter and friends came out and told them the same man had followed his daughter into the bathroom and tried to get inside her locked stall door, according to police. She had reported the incident to staff and later pointed out the man to her father.

Police say the dad went inside the gas station and told a security guard he needed to take care of the situation or he “would do it himself,” according to the report. The security guard reportedly told the man he would handle it.

But that’s not what happened, police said. Instead, witnesses told police, Harris got back in his car and drove to a gravel area where the man was standing, then got out and punched him in the face, according to Fox 10.



The man collapsed on the ground and was “snoring and moaning” while witnesses told police Harris punched and kicked him before leaving, according to the station.

Officers checked security footage and located Harris at his home, where, they say, he told police he had punched the man but only after the man swung at him first, according to the report. Harris told officers he did not remember beating the man beyond the first punch, police say.

The other man was transported to the hospital with a broken nose and injuries to his brain, ABC 15 reported. Swelling in his brain had cut off the flow of oxygen and he had gone unconscious, police said. Eventually, he died at the hospital, resulting in Harris’ second-degree murder charge, Fox 10 reported.

But Harris’ fiancee told the Arizona Republic she doesn’t think Harris did anything wrong.

“I’m not mad at him. I don’t feel like he did anything wrong. I love him. He did what he was supposed to do for our kid. You cannot tell someone they’re wrong for protecting their children,” she told the paper. “I would have done the same thing. I don’t feel bad at all for his actions. I feel bad that the man ended up dying in the process. I do.”

Harris’ bond was set at $100,000, and he was scheduled to be arraigned later in August, Fox 10 reported.

This story was originally published August 15, 2018 at 8:26 AM with the headline "Angry father beats man to death for trying to get in his daughter’s bathroom stall, cops say."