Harris
JENNINGS COUNTY — An 18-year-old woman accused of attempted murder in a stabbing attack at a Jennings County intermediate care facility in August is now facing eight new felony charges after allegedly attacking at least eight Jennings County Jail officials in three separate incidents.
Adrianna Harris, 18, was initially charged in August with six felonies, including two counts each of attempted murder, aggravated battery and intimidation stemming from a stabbing that resulted in two people being airlifted to an Indianapolis hospital for treatment, according to court records.
Over the past couple weeks, Jennings County prosecutors have filed two new criminal cases against Harris.
Last week, Harris was charged with one felony count of battery with bodily injury to a public safety officer and one felony count of strangulation. In late October, she was charged with five felony counts of battery against a public safety official and one felony count of intimidation.
The first incident allegedly took place on Oct. 11, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Jennings Circuit Court.
Shortly before 2:30 p.m., Harris allegedly started hitting the door to her cell with an open hand, the affidavit states. After Harris refused to stop hitting the door, jail officials decided to place her in a restraint chair.
While three jail officials were attempting to place Harris in the restraint chair, she “got her left arm free from my grip and began swinging her arm, to which it struck me across the bridge of my nose and face” while “she kept yelling, ‘Get off of me!’” one official states in the affidavit.
A couple minutes later, Harris allegedly “began trying to bite” one of the officials and then grabbed his shirt “and pulling on his shirt before hitting him in the face with her right arm,” the affidavit states. She then allegedly kicked the official in the face.
The officials then allegedly place Harris on the ground with one officer kneeling on her thighs to prevent her from kicking, handcuffed her and attempted to place her in the restraint chair again. As one officer was attempting to tighten the restraint strap on her right arm, “Harris then lunged at me from the chair,” the officer states in the affidavit.
About 1.5 hours later, the jail’s mental health professional reported that Harris allegedly “ripped offer her medical mesh underwear and threw them on the floor before playing in her own feces,” according to the affidavit.
“Due to the smell of her feces, inmate Harris then began to vomit on the floor around the restraint chair,” the affidavit states. “Inmate Harris then began smearing feces all over herself and the chair, while holding feces in her hand.”
The second incident allegedly took place a week later, according to court records.
Shortly after 4 p.m. on Oct. 18, Harris allegedly began to scream and hit her cell door, according to the affidavit.
A jail official approached her cell and open the window and allegedly observed “Harris pace back and forth hitting her head with closed fist strikes,” according to the affidavit. Another jail official then came to Harris’s cell.
When one of the officials ordered Harris to back away from the door, she allegedly “started to threaten to kill me,” the affidavit states.
Officials later reviewed video footage that allegedly captured Harris telling a jail official “I want to (expletive) kill you! I want to kill you!”
The two officers then allegedly entered her cell and ordered Harris to lay on her stomach with her hands behind her back. Harris allegedly complied and was handcuffed.
The officials began placing Harris in the restraint chair and were able to secure her upper body to the chair. However, when the officials began trying to place her legs in the chair’s shackles, Harris allegedly “became combative and started to scream while continuing to say, ‘Don’t touch me you (expletive).’”
“I attempted to gain control (of) her legs, but she began to kick (the two officials),” the affidavit states. “She dug her nails into my arm while continuing to kick towards my head and pulled (the other official’s) hair out.”
Another officer states in the affidavit that Harris’s nails left “scratches that drew blood” and she had “pulled clumps of hair” from one of the official’s head.
One of the officials struck Harris with a close fist to force to release her hair, while the other placed her “fingers under jawline and pressed upwards to force compliance,” according to the affidavit.
About 15 minutes after securing Harris in the restraint chair, the officials returned to double lock all of her restraints. While the officials attempted to double lock the restraints, Harris allegedly “grabbed my right hand, digging her nails into my wrist, drawing blood,” the affidavit states.
The third incident allegedly took place on Oct. 22 — the same day formal charges were filed for the two previous incidents, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Jennings Circuit Court.
In the affidavit, jail officials allege that they removed Harris from a restraint chair and escorted her to the shower after she had defecated and urinated on herself.
While showering, Harris allegedly became verbally aggressive, telling a jail official, “I’m going to pull your hair” and refusing to get out of the shower, the affidavit states.
When another jail official came to provide additional assistance, “Harris began striking me with her towel,” the official states in the affidavit.
“As I moved toward her to gain control, Harris grabbed me around the neck with her left hand. (Two other officers) entered to assist. (One officer) delivered closed-hand strikes to Harris’s left arm, causing her to release her grip from my neck. Harris was then taken to the ground while continuing to resist staff.”
One of the jail officials who was allegedly attacked by Harris on Oct. 22 was taken to Ascension St. Vincent hospital and was diagnosed with a concussion, the affidavit states.
Harris’s attorney is seeking to pursue an insanity defense. Jennings County Circuit Court Judge Murielle Bright has scheduled a jury trial in the stabbing case and one of the other criminal cases for Dec. 15 and an evidentiary hearing for a potential insanity defense on Feb. 5. A trial for the third criminal case has been scheduled for April 27.
Harris was initially arrested in August following a stabbing at a Jennings County intermediate care facility.
A probable cause affidavit alleges that Jennings County Sheriff deputies were dispatched to a Benchmark Human Services facility at around 6 p.m. on Aug. 10 in response to a reported stabbing.
When deputies arrived on the scene, they allegedly found two males subduing the suspect, who was later identified as Harris, on the ground outside the facility. The deputies also observed a large kitchen knife covered in what appeared to be blood laying on the sidewalk.
The deputies were able to detain Harris with her hands behind her back using handcuffs. The two males told the deputies that the stabbing victims were inside the facility.
“Upon making entry, I observed a path of blood inside the residence at the front door that led all throughout the inside of the residence,” one of the deputies states in the affidavit.
The deputies found two injured females inside the residence, one with lacerations on both of her legs and another with lacerations on her left bicep and the left side of her back. The deputies applied tourniquets on the wounds.
A few hours later, Harris allegedly told a detective that she had just been transferred to the Benchmark Human Services a few days earlier after residing at a residential treatment facility in Lafayette with her younger sister for around two years.
The transfer to the Benchmark facility resulted in Harris being separated from her sister, which allegedly “was a significant source of emotional distress for her,” the affidavit states.
On the morning of the stabbing, Harris viewed a video of her younger sister on a television in her room and allegedly “got really upset and began throwing objects within the facility.”
She then allegedly grabbed a knife from the dishwasher and began chasing the other residents outside the facility, where she allegedly stabbed two females.
Harris allegedly told the detective that she had been planning the attack “for a while.”
After the stabbings, the other residents allegedly locked her out of the facility. Harris then allegedly climbed a fence in the backyard to get to the front of the house. Staff members attempted to restrain her until law enforcement arrived.
“When questioned about her intentions, Ms. Harris first advised she wanted to hurt them at first, then changed her answer to wanting to try and kill them,” the affidavit states. “…She advised, ‘I think they should be dead’ and … advised she would try and kill them again if she got out.”
During the interview with the detective, Harris allegedly disclosed a history of violent acts, including a prior stabbing at her family home in Anderson.
The three cases are currently pending in Jennings Circuit Court.
