Miami-Dade family hopes detectives can solve 2003 mother’s murder, recent murder of her son

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – DaMarco Harris was just three years old when a killer took his mother from him. He didn’t get justice. Now his murder remains unsolved too.

Mother and son were both murder victims on a morning in May in Miami-Dade County. They were both pronounced dead at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.

Janiah Elliott set up a fundraiser to help the Harris family.

“Carmen Elena Harris had just graduated from Florida State University on May 3, 2003; with a Degree In Criminal Justice only to come home during the Memorial Day weekend and have her life cut short,” Elliott wrote. “DaMarco was only 3 years old and his upbringing was left in the hands of a heartbroken grandmother and his aunts.”

Harris’s aunt Nakai Kelly said she loved Harris like a son because she had helped to raise him after his mother, Carmen Harris, was killed on May 26, 2003, in Miami Gardens.

“She was murdered, stabbed to death,” Kelly said.

Before her murder, Carmen Harris was able to call 911 to report someone had broken into her home. After police officers found her dead, journalists responded to find Demarco Harris playing in the front yard.

Over two decades later, Demarco Harris was working as a ride-share driver when a killer shot him on May 9 in Miami’s Midtown neighborhood, according to the Miami Police Department. He was 24.

“He was taken away too soon,” Kelly said through tears.

Kelly asked the public for help so detectives could solve the murders and help their family find closure.

Elliott believes DaMarco Harris, also known as Demarco Harris, was shot and killed over his car.

“Who would think the family would have to relive such a traumatizing moment,” Elliott wrote. “Here we are again left with lots of questions and unanswered motives.”

Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.