‘Tamir gone. They shot my daddy.’ Pregnant woman says man killed in front of 3 kids

Brittany Moody was trembling with tears in her eyes Wednesday afternoon as she described the moment the father of her children was killed on Fourth Avenue in front of his three children.

“The only thing I could do was close my eyes and scream,” said Moody, who is four months pregnant with one of Tamir Harris’ 12 children. “He shot him in my face.”

Moody said Harris, 33, was standing outside of a car speaking with her mother Tuesday morning as his 2-year-old stood by his side. She said she sat in the backseat of the car with her 1-year-old daughter.

Harris’ friend sat in another car with Harris’ 11-month-old baby, according to Moody’s account of the incident.

Moody, who is the mother of four of his children, said that’s when a man she didn’t know walked up to Harris, put a gun to his head and shot him. She said he aimed the weapon at her and her family when she tried to get the young boy to safety.

“He walked off like he didn’t give a d--n,” Moody said as she struggled to hold back tears. “The way he looked at my baby daddy when he shot him, I couldn’t believe it.”

Columbus police responded to scene in the 3600 block of Fourth Avenue around 10:35 a.m. Tuesday and found him suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead on the scene about 30 minutes later, officials said.

Brandon Jarrell Senior, 31, was arrested hours after the shooting. He was taken into custody that afternoon following a standoff at an apartment in the 3200 block of Fourth Avenue.

Kawanna Harris, the victim’s mother, said she was sleeping when her youngest daughter, Quartesha Harris, called her and told her the devastating news.

“When I got the news, the only thing I could do was scream,” she said. “It was a shock to all of us. It didn’t even seem real.”

Tamir Harris’ family is left with memories of the man known for his generosity and kind spirit. He had a passion for basketball and love for the retired basketball player Michael Jordan.

His other joy in life was giving to people in need, his family said.

Shakeyla Harris, the victim’s sister, said a stranger told her that Tamir Harris randomly gave her money to feed her children. It was one of the many kind gestures the 33-year-old father was known to do for people in the community.

Teletha Perry, the mother of three of the victim’s children, said she was in an eight-year relationship with him when he was killed. She said it’s her love for their children and her determination to get them through the pain of his death that keeps her going.

Two of Perry’s children witnessed the shooting. She said it broke her heart to hear her 2-year-old tell her, “Tamir gone. They shot my daddy.”

“My whole world went down,” said Perry, who is four months pregnant with the victim’s child. “It hurts me to my soul, and I don’t think nobody will ever feel the pain that I feel.”

This story was originally published August 23, 2017 at 7:24 PM with the headline "‘Tamir gone. They shot my daddy.’ Pregnant woman says man killed in front of 3 kids."