Story perspectives

Parents Charged with Daughter’s Murder, Body Dumped in Reservoir

7/13/2026

Summary

Story summary

Johmarea Harris and Michilae Herring dissolved 4-year-old daughter Javeayah Harris’s body and dumped the remains in Cedar Creek Reservoir.
Sheriff Marty Sawyer refused to call them “mom and dad,” said they do not deserve those titles, and denied them bond on July 5.
Both parents face homicide charges, counts for destroying and desecrating remains, a false police report charge for Herring, while community held vigils and a July 10 remembrance at Foster Park.

History

Historical Context

The 1994 rape and murder of 7-year-old Megan Kanka in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, by repeat offender Jesse Timmendequas prompted Governor Christine Todd Whitman to sign state Megan’s Law just 89 days later, requiring a public sex-offender registry. The law became the model for the 1996 federal amendment to the Jacob Wetterling Act, extending community notification nationwide. Child killings repeatedly trigger tighter protective legislation.

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Story summary

Johmarea Harris and Michilae Herring dissolved 4-year-old daughter Javeayah Harris’s body and dumped the remains in Cedar Creek Reservoir.
Sheriff Marty Sawyer refused to call them “mom and dad,” said they do not deserve those titles, and denied them bond on July 5.
Both parents face homicide charges, counts for destroying and desecrating remains, a false police report charge for Herring, while community held vigils and a July 10 remembrance at Foster Park.

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