An Army sergeant in Mississippi killed his wife because she planned to divorce him, the woman’s heartbroken sister claims.
Shauna Harris, 36, was found fatally shot on Dec. 22 in the Oak Grove home she shared with her husband, Percy Harris, and the couple’s three children after she contacted an attorney about ending their marriage, the Hattiesburg American reports.
“When she filed for divorce, he could not take it,” Harris’ sister, Lakaja Wright, told the newspaper.
The couple still lived together, but Harris wanted her husband to leave the family’s home. The divorce process had started, but no official paperwork had been filed, Wright said.
Despite problems throughout their marriage, Percy Harris, who served as a supply sergeant in the Army, did not physically abuse his wife, according to her sister.
“He never hit her,” she told the newspaper. “He wasn’t abusive until he killed her.”
Harris, who remains held without bail on charges of murder and petit larceny, also allegedly stole his wife’s cellphone just days before she was found dead, Wright said.
“It was his second time doing that,” she told the newspaper.
The alleged theft, however, is considered a civil matter because the couple was married at the time and the device is considered joint property, Lamar County Sheriff Danny Rigel said.
The woman’s three children – including a 15-year-old from a prior relationship – are now staying with Wright. The eldest child called 911 to report that his parents were fighting last week, the newspaper reports.
The couple also had a pair of twin 5-year-old twins, one of whom asked Wright what happened to their mother, she said.
“I went next door and broke down,” she said. “I had to go next door and think for a minute. I asked the Lord to guide me, because I had no idea what to say.”
Funeral services for Harris, who worked at a spa in Hattiesburg, were scheduled for Tuesday.