WBBJ TV
December 31, 2020
CORINTH, Miss. A service and funeral procession was held for a West Tennessee soldier, Army Cpl. Hayden Harris in Corinth, Mississippi Thursday.
Harris, an infantryman with the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, trained at Fort Benning, Georgia before he joined the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum in July 2019.
According to the Associated Press, authorities found Harris’ body in a wooded area of Byram Township, New Jersey Saturday.
Harris was from Guys in McNairy County, and graduated from McNairy Central High School in 2018.
Harris’ awards and decorations include two Army Achievement Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon.
Harris was an infantryman with the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, and trained at Fort Benning, Georgia, before he joined the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum in July 2019. He was promoted from specialist to corporal following his death. His awards and decorations include two Army Achievement Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon. Harris graduated Air Assault School in 2019.
He was last heard from the night of Dec. 17 after he headed from Fort Drum to Watertown to meet fellow soldier Mellish for some type of vehicle exchange, officials said. Township firefighters discovered Harris with a gunshot wound to his head on Dec. 19, a day after he was reported missing from Fort Drum. Firefighters were on their annual Santa ride through the township when they discovered the scene.
A Fort Drum soldier and a 16-year-old boy have been charged in the murder and kidnapping of a 20-year-old soldier found buried under snow in northern New Jersey.
A 23-year-old U.S. Army soldier from New York and a teen are accused of kidnapping and killing another soldier whose body was later found in a wooded area of North Jersey, a week before Christmas.
Specialist Jamaal Mellish, of Brooklyn, and a 16-year-old male juvenile are both charged with murder, felony murder and kidnapping in the death of 20-year-old Cpl. Hayden Harris, according to Sussex County Prosecutor Francis A. Koch on Monday.
Sussex County First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Mueller previously told the New Jersey Herald murder charges were expected and that Mellish was in custody, suspected in the death. Mueller also said at the time a juvenile had been in the car used to kidnap Harris.