FORT DRUM â An argument between two Fort Drum soldiers swapping their vehicles with each other apparently led to one of them being shot to death in a wooded area in northern New Jersey.
First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Mueller told the New Jersey Herald that the body of Cpl. Hayden A. Harris, 20, was found on Saturday in a wooded area in Byram Township, Sussex County, N.J., and a fellow soldier was taken into custody in connection with his death.Â
Pvt. Jamaal Mellish, 23, remains in the custody of Fort Drum Military Police.
Cpl. Harris was meeting with Mellish âfor some type of vehicle exchangeâ in Watertown when the meeting escalated, according to the New Jersey newspaper.
Army officials said the young soldier s body was found in a wooded area of Byram Township in Sussex County on Saturday, when firefighters discovered blood and personal effects in the area. Harris died of injuries from a shooting, investigators said.
On Monday, First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Mueller identified 23-year-old Jamaal Mellish, another soldier stationed out of Fort Drum, as the man suspected of killing Harris.
Mellish allegedly abducted Harris after a meeting between them escalated, Mueller told the New Jersey Herald. Mellish is believed to have driven from upstate New York to the New York City area in a Chevrolet Silverado. The vehicle then crossed into New Jersey.
2020/12/21 19:30 BYRAM, N.J. (AP) Authorities on Monday were holding a U.S. Army soldier in the death of a fellow soldier from Tennessee who was found shot to death in New Jersey after he was missing from a base in upstate New York. Authorities found the body of Cpl. Hayden Harris, 20, in a wooded area of Byram Township, New Jersey, on Saturday. The resident of Guys, Tennessee, was last heard from Thursday night after he headed from Fort Drum to Watertown, New York, for a vehicle transaction, the Army said. Harris was meeting fellow soldier, Jamaal Mellish, for “some type of vehicle exchange,” First Assistant Sussex County Prosecutor Gregory Mueller said. Authorities believe Mellish “abducted” Harris and killed him, Mueller said.
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Tennessee soldier found fatally shot, foul play suspected
Another solider is in custody
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Cpl. Hayden Harris was found dead in New Jersey (U.S. Army)
Authorities on Monday were holding a U.S. Army soldier in the death of a fellow soldier from Tennessee who was found shot to death in New Jersey after he was missing from a base in upstate New York.
Authorities found the body of Cpl. Hayden Harris, 20, in a wooded area of Byram Township, New Jersey, on Saturday.
The resident of Guys, Tennessee, was last heard from Thursday night after he headed from Fort Drum to Watertown, New York, for a vehicle transaction, the Army said.