He was
surrendered to detectives with the Sussex County Prosecutor s Office Thursday night and transported some 250 miles to the Byram Township Police Department, where he was processed and fingerprinted, according to Gregory Mueller, Sussex County s first assistant prosecutor. He was then transferred to the Morris County jail.
Authorities have said the two soldiers met in Watertown, New York, on Dec. 18 to exchange vehicles. A dispute between the two men may have played a role in Mellish s decision to abduct Harris and take him on a more than 300-mile trek south to Brooklyn, Mellish s hometown, according to Mueller.
For reasons police haven t yet explained, Mellish then drove across New Jersey, made his way to the end of Ross Road in Byram and left Harris body there. Prosecutors so far haven t disclosed a motive for the alleged killing.
BYRAM, N.J. â The accused killer of a Fort Drum soldier is in a New Jersey jail on Thursday night, where he will face murder and kidnapping charges.
Pvt. Jamaal Mellish, 23, was picked up from the Oneida County Correctional Facility on Thursday by Sussex County, N.J., law enforcement officials after waiving extradition, according to the jail in Oriskany.
Mellish is accused of abducting Cpl. Hayden A. Harris, 20, in Glen Park and driving him some 300 miles in the corporalâs 2017 Chevrolet Silverado pickup to Byram Township, N.J., after the soldiers had apparently argued about swapping vehicles.
Sgt. Guy Mariani confirmed Mellish was booked and finger printed on Thursday in the Byram Township Police Department. He was then brought to the Morris County Correctional Facility, where heâs being held.
Fort Drum soldier, teen charged with murdering another soldier
Updated Dec 29, 2020;
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Fort Drum, N.Y. A Fort Drum soldier and a teenager have been charged with kidnapping and killing Hayden Harris, a soldier found dead days after he went missing from Fort Drum, prosecutors said Monday.
Pvt. Jamaal Mellish, 23, of Brooklyn, and a 16-year-old boy whose name was not released, were charged Monday with first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, second-degree possession of a weapon without a permit and second-degree possession of weapons for unlawful purposes. Mellish also was charged with suppressing evidence.
Prosecutors say Mellish met Harris in Glen Park, about a 20-minute drive from their Fort Drum base, to exchange vehicles a earlier this month. They went to swap a Ford Mustang for Harris’ white 2017 Chevrolet Silverado, Sussex County First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Mueller told the New Jersey Herald.
Army specialist and teen charged with kidnapping, murdering 20-year-old soldier
Updated Dec 29, 2020;
Posted Dec 28, 2020
Hayden Harris, 20, was found shot to death in a wooded area in Sussex County.(U.S. Army photo)
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Two people, including a fellow soldier, have been charged with killing a young U.S. Army soldier whose body was discovered in Sussex County earlier this month, authorities said.
Specialist Jamaal Mellish, 23, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and a 16-year-old male whose name was not released, were charged with kidnapping and murdering 20-year-old Cpl. Hayden Harris, the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office announced Monday.
Harris, who was assigned to Fort Drum in upstate New York, was found shot to death on Dec. 19 in a wooded area near Ross Road in Byram Township, Sussex County First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Mueller said earlier this month.