(WXYZ) — A Michigan man was convicted Wednesday of killing his wife with heroin-laced cereal.
According to a press release from the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office, a jury found 47-year-old Jason Thomas Harris of Davison guilty on all counts (first degree premeditated murder, solicitation of murder, and delivery of a controlled substance causing death) in the 2014 death of his wife, 36-year-old Christina Ann Thompson.
The prosecutor’s office says Harris told investigators he served his wife a bowl of cereal in the evening of September 28, 2014, and that she had trouble holding her spoon and needed help getting into bed.
The next day, he reportedly asked a neighbor to check on her and that’s when she was discovered dead. The case was initially ruled an accidental overdose until the woman’s family pushed investigators, indicating that she didn’t use drugs and something was not right.
During the investigation, a sample of Thompson’s breast milk, which had been stored in the freezer, was tested and came back negative for any controlled substances, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Thompson’s brother and sister also reportedly told police that he had make statements previously about “getting rid of his wife.”
During trail testimony, the prosecutor’s office said it came out that Harris had been talking with several women before and after his wife’s death. Another woman also moved into their home two weeks after his wife’s death, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Davison police investigated the case for almost two years and then Michigan State Police took over in August of 2016. In 2019, the prosecutor's office says the death certificate was changed to reflect homicide as a cause of death.
“This was a very tragic case and my heart goes out to the family and friends of Christina Harris for their terrible loss,” said Prosecutor Leyton in a press release. “The circumstances of this case make for a unique story and garner headlines in the media but, at the core of it, a family is mourning the loss of their loved one and, I can only hope that today’s verdict will help them with closure as they continue to grieve and they can feel some sense of comfort in knowing that justice under the law has been served."
Harris faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole; his sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 10.
