SAN DIEGO — Content warning: This story includes details about a toddler’s death which some readers may find disturbing.
The mother of a toddler who died after being found unconscious in a vehicle outside their Tierrasanta home last summer pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony child abuse charge and is slated to be sentenced to 10 years in state prison on April 6.
Pricilla Marquez Harris, 25, also admitted sentence-enhancing allegations of causing great bodily injury or death.
The defendant initially reported her 20-month-old daughter missing in a 12:30 p.m. call to police last Aug. 5. She called again a short time later to say the youngster had been found inside her car, which was parked outside their residence in the 10300 block of Leary Street, and told a dispatcher that the child was unresponsive and not breathing, according to San Diego police.
Police responded to the scene in an area of Navy housing with military personnel responding as well.
Medics went to the home and tried in vain to revive the toddler before pronouncing her dead at the scene.
Child abuse detectives were called in to investigate the death of Scarlett Harris and their findings were forwarded to the San Diego County District Attorney's Office. Harris was taken into custody by San Diego police last September.
In October, the San Diego medical examiner ruled that Scarlett Harris died from hyperthermia noting her lips were dry and there were “heat artifacts” on her limbs.
“Which would be exposure to very hot weather and that had gone untreated,” said San Diego Police Department retired deputy Rick Carlson at the time the report was released.
Charging documents show Scarlett's temperature was 106 degrees when she was found. Police also infer overnight Pricilla Harris may have driven with Scarlett in the backseat from her Tierrasanta home to visit a man she was romantically involved with in El Cajon.
She then drove home in the morning bringing inside the man's puppy, but not her daughter.
Detectives interviewed the man and noted quote "he responded in disgust by saying he could not believe Harris brought the puppy inside the residence but left her child in the vehicle."
That is why Carlson says the circumstances matter beyond the autopsy report when it comes to charging someone.
"Not only does the autopsy determine that but then the detectives will get surrounding circumstances - the heat that day, how long the child was in the car - all are part of the investigation,” he said.
Court documents indicated Harris filed for divorce from husband Brandon Harris on July 26 after less than two years of marriage.
A 911 call log indicated that Pricilla’s husband was not at home when his daughter was found in the car. The couple was in the midst of a separation and he reportedly learned about the death on the news.
On June 8, 2019, a couple months before Scarlett’s death, police had been called to their residence for an alleged domestic violence incident in which the caller reported that her husband was “trying to get her to commit suicide.”
A 911 call following Scarlett’s death revealed that Pricilla has a history of suicide attempts. Also, just two days after Scarlett’s death, police were called back to the home for a reported drug overdose of Harris’ cousin and her boyfriend.
