A 30-year-old Tennessee man is facing charges after authorities say he kidnapped a 10-year-old girl from her home, tearing an air-conditioning unit out of her bedroom window before dragging her into nearby woods, tying her to a tree and holding a knife to her throat.
Steven Devonte Harris was arrested Wednesday evening and charged with two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated assault, aggravated burglary and attempted rape of a child.
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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a press release that the girl was “forcibly taken from her home” early Wednesday morning and was “threatened and assaulted” by Harris before she managed to get away.
She ran to a nearby neighbor for help, and the agency credited that neighbor’s quick response with helping save the child’s life.
Crystal Brown, the girl’s mother, told Nashville NBC affiliate WSMV that the man broke into the home by pulling an air-conditioning unit out of her daughter’s bedroom window, then pulled the girl through the opening and dragged her into the woods.
Once there, Harris allegedly used his own belt to bind her to a tree, then pressed a knife to her throat and threatened to rape her, according to a police report cited by Memphis NBC affiliate WMC.
The girl managed to untie herself and ran toward a nearby home, where she tried to get help by speaking into a doorbell camera. Harris allegedly caught up with her again, dragging her behind a neighboring apartment and beginning to strangle her.
Someone showed up at the apartment in the middle of the struggle, laying on their car horn and yelling for help. The girl’s aunt, who lives close by, ran outside armed with a spiked bat, and Harris fled.
A neighbor previously told Jackson ABC affiliate WBBJ that she was woken up by screaming and loud noises around 12:50 a.m. and saw the girl sprinting toward her aunt’s house. She was later taken to a hospital by emergency crews for treatment.
Investigators say they recovered a belt, a vape and a green sweatshirt from the wooded area where the girl was allegedly taken.
Police said they were able to zero in on Harris as a suspect fairly quickly, partly because of his history of prior incidents in the area.
“The key part of the evidence was that the TBI and FBI, as well as the Dyer County Sheriff’s Department and Newbern Police Department, were all searching the area, and they did find some items of interest that were mentioned by the victim,” District Attorney Danny Goodman told WBBJ. “Once we got those back, it kind of confirmed the suspect that we had in mind anyway. So, that was the key piece of evidence that let us know we were on the right track.”
Evidence gathered during the search was sent to the TBI Crime Lab for DNA analysis, including Rapid DNA testing, which came back matching Harris.
Detectives said that when Harris was questioned after being read his Miranda rights, he came across as evasive and gave answers that didn’t line up.
Harris is being held at the Dyer County Jail and is expected to appear in court Monday morning, according to records.
