An Arizona father who beat a man to death in a convenience store parking lot after he tried to break into 16-year-old his daughter’s bathroom stall has been sentenced to eight years in jail.
Melvin Harris III, 40, was arrested in August of 2018 after beating Leon Leevon Armstrong, 27, to death in the parking lot of a convenience store in Phoenix, Arizona.Â
According to the Daily Mail, Harris was waiting in his car for his 16-year-old daughter and her friends, whom he’d just picked up from work when she emerged from the store, claiming Armstrong had tried forcefully to get into the bathroom stall she was in.Â
Coincidentally, Armstrong had approached Harris’ vehicle asking for money before he went into the store and harassed the young woman.
Security guards were alerted and the police were called but Harris approached the man as he exited the store and proceeded to beat Armstrong to death in the parking lot.Â
Armstrong died in the hospital from brain swelling, a nasal fracture, and loss of oxygen.Â
Eyewitnesses said they watched in horror as Harris repeatedly kicked and stomped on the man.Â
Harris was originally charged with second-degree murder but he accepted a plea deal which saw the charge reduced to manslaughter.
