A staff writer for All Thats Interesting, Marco Margaritoff has also published work at outlets including People, VICE, and Complex, covering everything from film to finance to technology. "I've always said I thought that video eventually would be the best thing in the world for us," he said. David Rice Harris, in Perry County, in the late 1860s and early 1870s. ", The phrase stopped Harris for a moment, she said. '', By the same token, she added, her daughter-in-law ''loved David very much.''. Right up until the last moment, the defense was divided over whether Harris should take the stand to defend herself. The 1995 move Suburban Madness starring Selma Ward is loosely based on the Clara Harris case. Lindsey Harris filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her stepmother and was awarded about $2 million from her father's estate, as were her half brothers. On July 22, 2002, she got into her silver S-Class 430 Mercedes-Benz and drove to the Nassau Bay Hilton, across the highway from the Johnson Space Center. However, Irwin, the accident reconstructionist, still managed to make a persuasive case that Harris only ran into her husband once. In the heat of the moment, she went on to say, she didnt even know she had run over David. Claras application for parole was granted, Inside the Bro-tastic Party Mansions Upending a Historic Austin Community. Prosecutors say Harris, bent on avenging her husbands adultery, used her car as a murder weapon. It's highly unlikely Clara was not "aware" of her husband's cheating ways. David Harris, a suburban Houston orthodontist, died July 24 after Clara Harris car struck him. ''I don't know what you are trying to get me to say,'' Ms. Harris said, her smile gone. ''She's really more like a daughter.''. David had been married once before and had a daughter named Lindsey, and Harris loved the young girl like her own. Raised by her widowed mother, she grew into an ambitious adult who studied dentistry in her home country before making her way to the United States in the late 1980s. In her rebuttal, an assistant district attorney, Mia Magness, cited witnesses' testimony that Clara Harris had lied about one of her twins being sick to persuade her husband to return home on the day he died; that she had trespassed on Ms. Bridges's property; that she had vandalized Ms. Bridges's Lincoln Navigator; and that she had assaulted Ms. Bridges in the hotel lobby shortly before her husband was killed. And if God can forgive us of our sins and our mistakes, then why should we not be able to forgive the sins and mistakes of others?''. Texas Department of CorrectionsClara Harris was sentenced to 20 years in prison but only served 15. Her actions, in the years leading up to the event, indicate she did everything she possibly could to save her marriage and preserve her family. The mock jury's reaction to her account was encouraging: Just two out of the 20 said Harris was guilty of murder. Lived In Chesapeake VA, Monterey CA, Augusta GA, Grovetown GA. Related To Brad Harris, Ghanbria Harris, Alphonso Harris, Daphne Harris, Mary Harris. David Harris is on Facebook. She will at some point be transferred to a maximum-security prison to serve out the rest of her term. Without warning, she stomped on the accelerator and went straight for my Dad, testified Lindsey, 17, at Harris murder trial Wednesday. ''In 10 years, he never had a negative thing to say about Clara. Also known as Lindsey D Clay, Clay Lindsey. When they found it, Clara Harris scratched the vehicle with her keys, ripped off the rear windshield wiper and tried to do the same to the front wipers. Over the years, there were occasional stories in the media about Clara. The worst was yet to come, however. I pray for her continuously and I am glad she will have something to come home to, her twin boys. She said she became upset, she got into her car and drove toward Bridges' black Lincoln Navigator, but did not remember running over her husband. 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. The defense's pathology expert said David Harris' injuries were consistent with being run over once, and Irwin constructed a computer simulation designed to show how the Mercedes' 40-foot turning radius meant it could not have hit the body a second time. Harris, a 45-year-old Houston dentist, was accused of killing her cheating husband by running him over with her Mercedes in a hotel parking lot in front of half a dozen witnesses. Harris is currently in a psychiatric prison 140 miles north of Houston. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. She admitted grabbing Bridges' hair when she saw her come out of the elevator with her husband, and said hotel employees broke up the fight and steered her toward her car in the parking lot. When one suggested reckless driving, Hirschhorn joked that Parnham should take her to lunch. Clara had a lucrative practice as a dentist, while Davids specialty was orthodontics. A Right-wing Cabal Took Over Odessas Municipal Government. Bridges responded, "The affair was wrong. Her trial began the following February. During hearings on the matter, Lindsey Harris testified she was severely traumatized from her stepmothers actions. In his cross-examination, Parnham did not question her account, but mentioned that Lindsey was suing her stepmother for a share of her father's multimillion-dollar estate. A police officer who witnessed the crime testified that she ran him over three times, however. This post has been updated since publication to correct an error: the minimum punishment for intentional murder is five years, not twenty years. The tragedy took place at the parking lot of the Hilton Hotel at Nassau Bay last year. And its full of great reads, yall. Her husband had confessed to her on July 17, and Harris had confronted Bridges at the orthodontics office that same day, telling her she was fired. The story of an angry dentist killing her husband spread like wildfire. She was in the Mercedes-Benz when her stepmother, Clara Harris, ran over her husband in the parking lot of the Clear Lake-area hotel on July 24, 2002. ''But there is no problem with me getting to see those children.''. "I drove over David," she said in tears, adding that she was so disoriented she wasn't aware of being at the wheel of her car. At her parole hearing this past October, he brought her two sons, who were then nineteen years old and attending universities in Texas. '', Youth Who Saw Killing Says Stepmother 'Stomped' Accelerator and 'Went for' Father, https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/30/us/youth-who-saw-killing-says-stepmother-stomped-accelerator-and-went-for-father.html. When the car stopped, David Harris, 44, was dead. Why Does He Get to Make That Call? On the night of the killing, she said, Clara Harris "stepped on the accelerator and went straight for him," saying moments before impact, "I'm going to hit him.". But, he said, she insisted on testifying. Lindsey opened the door and stuck her feet on the ground, as if she was attempting to escape, according to witnesses, who then saw Clara whip the car around, hit the accelerator again, and drive over her husbands crumpled body a second time. The Campaign to Sabotage Texass Public Schools. ''I love her very much,'' Mildred Harris, beaming toward her daughter-in-law, said this morning from the witness stand shortly before the defense rested its case. Im going to hit him, Harris told the teenager. When they arrived at the hotel, she said, they went to the front desk, where they were told that neither Dr. Harris nor Ms. Bridges was registered. Claras goal was to get paroled so she could be reunited with her sons, Emily Detoto, one of her original defense attorneys, told me. They watched as prosecutors built a case against Dr. Harris, 45, a former beauty queen who is a dentist. Katy Vine has been a staff writer since 2002. Her behavior was erratic and her speech loud and angry as she demanded to know which room her husband and his mistress were in. In the darkened cabin of her stepmothers Mercedes-Benz, Lindsey Harris thought the drama was over for the night. By the time she saw him, it was too late to stop and she hit him by accident, lifting his body onto the Mercedes' hood. She knew what she did and she wasnt sorry, said Lindsey. Im thinking about pulling a Clara Harris, a woman would say with a laugh after learning her husband had done something really stupid. As Dr. Clara Harris sits in court every day, her staunchest supporters are the parents of her husband, the man she is accused of killing with her Mercedes-Benz. She always said that David called Lindsey his angel and now David is her angel. If jurors find she acted under the legal definition of sudden passion, she could receive a two-to-20-year sentence. He said it would all come down to one thing for the jury: Did Harris want her husband dead or did she want him back? Lindsey was with Harris when she sped off in the direction of the hotel on July 24 to confront her husband. This time, a jury had little sympathy for Claras story, and it ordered her to pay $3.75 million in damages. She had two sons with her orthodontist husband, David Harris. Im so sorry, she was heard saying over and over. "If you had anything to say to Clara, what would it be?" I believe anyone can be driven to do what Ms Harris did when they are pushed far enough. On February 14, 2003 (which ironically would have been David and Claras 11th anniversary), the jury found her guilty of second degree murder. Houston pitmaster goes viral after hilarious TV interview, Willie Nelson's new album is a lovely tribute to a fellow country legend, Two ocelots were photographed crossing a road in rare South Texas sighting, Astros GM Dana Brown sees bright future for top prospect Drew Gilbert, This is how astronauts see Houston, Texas Gulf from space with unaided eyes. She did not know David was dead until Lindsey, David's daughter who was in the car with her stepmother, approached her. David Harris' tooth, found on the pavement next to his head, was introduced as evidence, as were autopsy photos showing what a pathologist said were tire tracks across the body of the. Whats more, she didnt violate any prison rules. Find Lindsey Harris's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading people search directory for contact information and public records. Theres An App for That. The 44-year-old Colombian had moved to America in the 1980s and opened her own successful dentistry practice. Garza asked. Finally David and Gail exited the hotel, obviously unaware of his wifes presence or even the scene she had created in the hotel earlier. When Dr. Harris and Ms. Bridges came down from their room, Clara Harris ''went straight for Gail,'' Lindsey said. When the car stopped, Lindsey ran around to the drivers side. 1 most stressful city for U.S. workers, To get these special tacos, drive out to the Houston Ship Channel, MLB legend makes surprise appearance at Astros' Spring Training, 'This is about profit': Houston leaders condemn HISD takeover, Oops! I wish Clara would have been stronger, but unfortunately she wasn't . Lindsey visited her father and stepmother two or three times a year. Menu Log In Sign Up Instead of driving out of the parking lot, Harris drove toward Bridges' Lincoln Navigator. When Clara finally stopped the car, she got out, looked around, walked toward her dead husband, cradled him in her arms, and begged him to breathe. On Friday, one of Texass most notorious killers, Clara Harris, was released from prison. We went shopping a lot. Individual details - click to Hide Show Main role not specified . David was dead at the scene and Clara was charged with first-degree murder. ''We could talk to each other because we both loved David,'' she said in testimony that began with her smiling broadly at the jury. He went to church and loved Clara, she said. Send the woman home for crying out loud. She and Lindsey got into Harris silver S-Class 430 Mercedes-Benz and waited. Murdaughs fall from grace ends in a life sentence for murder, CPAC shows the GOP has deep divisions that may prove impossible to repair, Abortion clinics crossing state borders not always welcome, Black Vietnam veteran finally awarded Medal of Honor, Toxic forever chemicals about to get their first U.S. limits, Hidden, illegal casinos are booming in L.A., with organized crime reaping big profits, Best coffee city in the world? She said she felt a bump as the car ran over her father. Things spun out of control for Joy and she fled the country. Mistresses everywhere were warned to take note: next time it could be them. Parnham was confident. If you need help with the Public File, call (713) 778-4745. The lawsuit sought damages from the Nassau Bay Hilton Hotel and the Blue Moon Investigations detective agency for the couple's twin sons, Brian and Bradley, 5, and Harris' daughter, Lindsey, 18, by a previous marriage. Since the trial, Parnham has been asking himself why the jury imposed the maximum. Clara was arrested for murder. However, on a rational side, what bothers the most is Clara's not being aware through all those years that her husband was a cheating type - despite the fact that he didn't even particularly hide it. Looking up, he saw a Mercedes ''bumping over an object,'' he said. What very few people knew was that Clara was a model prisoner. Once she discovered the couple's whereabouts, Clara Harris called the family's nanny at home and told her to put some of her husband's business clothes on the porch and to throw everything else away, Lindsey said. "His last words to me were, 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry' and then he lost his life shortly after that.". A dignified churchgoing couple in tweeds and sensible shoes, Mildred Harris and her husband, Gerald, have sat a few feet behind Dr. Harris in the public gallery alongside another of their sons, several close friends and members of Dr. Harris's family from Bogot, Colombia. The thing that made me upset about this case, is that no one ever touched on the fact that David caused his own death due to his own foul behavior. This is Dr. David Harris and hes fing this woman right here!. In her turn on the stand, Mildred Harris said she and her daughter-in-law ''were like friends.''. Her sons were placed in the care of family friends, and her stepdaughter Lindsey testified against her at the trial that began in January 2003. 20 years was extremely unfair. "A lot of women would say, 'I don't feel sorry for (you) because (you were) going out with a married man,'" Garza said. When it was over, the young girl was traumatized and frightened for her own life. She changed so many times to appease him, but it was never good enough. '', ''She wasn't sorry,'' Lindsey testified. They seemed like the perfect family but on July 24, 2002, Harris fatally ran over her husband with her car. Leave them blank to get signed up. Clara Harris retained $1.2 million in assets. On July 22, 2002, she got into her silver S-Class 430 Mercedes-Benz and drove to the Nassau Bay Hilton, across the highway from the Johnson Space Center. In his opening argument, Parnham set out the essence of the defense case: that Harris had wanted to rescue her marriage, and ran over her husband by accident when her actual intention was to ram Bridges' car. With all hes done to me, I could kill him and get away with it, Harris had allegedly stated. Lindsey Harris filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her stepmother and was awarded about $2. Mayor: HISD has two optionsclose school or be taken over, Meet the Astros prospect tearing up Spring Training, Report: Houston ranked No. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? I wish her nothing but the best for the rest of her life. ", Next, the defense team showed the panel a videotape they had made of Harris talking about the night of the killing. Her stepmother ran to them and began slapping Bridges and ripping her shirt, she added. The romance blossomed so rapidly that the couple got married on Feb. 14, 1992, less than a year after their first date. David Harris is on Facebook. He clearly did not make them a priority. They had twin sons named Brian and Bradley in 1998. Its daily. a bunch of times. A Harris County, Texas, jury would have the official and final say. Was her love "above" everybody else's wellbeing? Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Dr Harris joined the School of Social and Political Sciences in September 2019 having previously held a number of key academic . This was said to be the equivalent of Davids half of the estate plus a little over 50 percent of Claras half.