Yahoo News Father arrested over death of man who allegedly attacked his teenage daughter in petrol station toilet
A father has been arrested over the death of a man who allegedly attacked his daughter inside a petrol station toilet.
Melvin Harris has been charged with second-degree murder after the victim in the beating died of his injuries five days after the attack.
A police report states that Harris stopped off at a petrol station in Phoenix, Arizona, while picking up his 16-yer-old daughter and her two friends shortly before midnight.
The alleged attacker, named in local media as Leon Leevon Armstrong, apparently asked Harris for money before entering the QuikTrip store at the station.
Harris’ daughter later emerged and reportedly told her father that Armstrong had tried to force his way into the toilet stall she was using.
According to the police report, Harris went into the shop to notify a security guard, telling him ‘he needed to take care of the situation or he’d do it himself’.
Harris went to drive away, but pulled over the car after spotting Armstrong outside the shop.
The report alleges that Harris then punched Armstrong in the face before continuing to kick and punch him as he lay on the ground.
Harris later confessed to police after they tracked him down using CCTV footage.
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He reportedly told officers he did not remember continuing the attack after the first punch, insisting to police that Armstrong swung first.
Harris’s fiancee, Diana Jackson, told KPHO-TV: ‘I’m not mad at him [Harris], I don’t feel like he did anything wrong.
‘He did what he was supposed to do for our kid. You cannot tell someone they’re wrong for protecting their children.’
Armstrong has a criminal history of shoplifting, trespassing and obstructing police, according to the Maricopa Sheriff’s office.
