| Inmate name: | Cornelius Milan Harper |
| Charge description: | Cornelius Milan Harper was convicted of Capital Murder by a 434th District Court jury on June 11, 2014. Harper, a 27 year-old Houston man, was indicted after killing his cousin and his cousins pregnant girlfriend in 2010. Presiding Judge James H. Shoemake sentenced Harper to life without parole a week later after the jury declined to recommend the death penalty. According to Assistant District Attorney Mark Hanna, 27-year-old Leiah Jackson lived with her boyfriend Yancey Daniels in the back of a duplex owned by Leiahs mother on Palm Desert in Missouri City. Leiah and Yancey were expecting the birth of a baby boy around November 1, 2010. Just after 1 a.m. on September 26, 2010, Leiah came to her mothers door in the front of the duplex, bleeding from multiple stab wounds, stating that Yanceys cousin did this. She was life-flighted to the medical center where both Leiah and her unborn baby died in surgery. The stabbing happened outside of Leiahs residence but blood was found inside on light switches and doorknobs leading to a closet where a container was pulled out and its contents emptied onto the floor. Leiahs mother stated that in the week prior to the murder, she overheard Yancey tell Leiah that he had about $30,000 in his closet. Yanceys vehicle and a .380 caliber pistol were located at the scene with blood and .380 caliber shell casings found inside the vehicle. Authorities discovered Yanceys body several hours later at an apartment complex near West Airport Blvd. in Houston by pinpointing his cell phones GPS coordinates. The 30-year-old man had been shot multiple times, including twice in the head. Investigators determined that Cornelius Harper and Yancey Daniels were first cousins and had been together on September 25, 2010. The investigation led to a search of Harpers apartment and a stolen vehicle he was driving where police recovered more .380 shell casings. A ballistics examination confirmed that the .380 pistol recovered at the Missouri City crime scene was the same gun that fired the bullets recovered from Yanceys body. The gun also matched the shell casings found in Yanceys vehicle, Harpers apartment, and Harpers car. A neighbor stated that around the time of Leiahs murder, he heard a woman scream and then heard a thud like someone landing after jumping over a fence. He saw a dark figure in the yard next to his, directly behind the victims. Although he could not see the figures face, the witness testified that the persons shoulders were several inches above the fence line consistent with the suspects height of approximately 6 7. During a pre-arrest interview, Harper stated that he had spent the evening with Leiah and Yancey but returned home around 10:20 p.m. Harpers girlfriend testified that the defendant told her to tell police he had arrived home at 10:20 p.m. even though she was asleep and didnt know what time he actually returned. A fellow inmate in the Fort Bend County jail testified that he and Harper spent many hours together talking in 2013 and that Harper had confessed to him, stating that Yancey had to die for his avarice and Leiah had to die for her deceit. The inmate testified about details of the crimes that he could only have learned from Harper. Harper testified that he grew up moving back and forth between his mothers home in Abilene and his fathers home in Chicago, coming to Houston after attending a family reunion in 2009. The Daniels family had only recently met and became acquainted with Harper over the last year prior to the murder. Harper committed an aggravated robbery in Abilene as a juvenile in 2003 and was certified to stand trial as an adult. While fleeing from that robbery, Harper shot at both police officers and a police K9. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison until he was paroled in 2009. He was also charged in Harris County for Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle and Possession of Marijuana, both of which resulted from this investigation. Fort Bend County Assistant District Attorneys Mark Hanna, Amanda Bolin and Fred Felcman prosecuted the case. Attorneys Stephen Doggett and Katherine Scardino represented the defendant. |
| Booking location: | Fort Bend County, TX |
