BYRAM, N.J. (AP) — A Fort Drum soldier and a 16-year-old boy have been charged in the murder and kidnapping of a 20-year-old Tennessee soldier found buried under snow in northern New Jersey.
Pvt. Jamaal Mellish and the 16-year-old boy, whose identity has not been released, have been charged in the death of Cpl. Hayden Harris, whose body was found in Byram Township, according to the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Harris was from Guys, Tennessee, in McNairy County about 100 miles east of Memphis. He graduated from McNairy Central High School in 2018.
The New Jersey Herald reports that the charges include first-degree murder and kidnapping, second-degree weapons charges, and other charges.
Township firefighters discovered Harris with a gunshot wound to his head a day after he was reported missing from Fort Drum.
Investigators say Harris was supposed to meet a fellow soldier for “some type of vehicle exchange,” but it’s believed he was abducted and killed by the soldier he was supposed to meet.
Harris, an infantryman with the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, trained at Fort Benning, Georgia, before he joined the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum in July 2019.
His awards and decorations include two Army Achievement Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon. He graduated Air Assault School in 2019.
He was promoted from specialist to corporal following his death.