Fort Drum soldier, teen charged with murder of corporal found buried in Sussex County woods

A Fort Drum soldier and a 16-year-old boy have been charged with kidnapping and first-degree murder in the death of a 20-year-old soldier found buried under snow in Sussex County.

The Sussex County Prosecutor's Office said Pvt. Jamaal Mellish, 23, and the 16-year-old, whose identity has not been released, have been charged in the killing of Cpl. Hayden Harris, 20, whose body was found in a wooded area on Ross Road in Byram on Dec. 19.

Mellish and the juvenile were also charged with second-degree possession of a weapon without a permit and second-degree possession of weapons for unlawful purposes. Mellish was also charged with third-degree suppression of evidence.

Township firefighters discovered Harris' body with a gunshot wound to his head, a day after he was reported missing from the Fort Drum base in upstate New York.

Authorities arrested Mellish immediately. The Sussex County Prosecutor's Office worked in concert with the Army and New York officials to bring the charges. 

Harris, known as "Opie" in his rural Tennessee hometown due to his red hair, had an infectious smile and one passion in life: to join the U.S. Army, said family friend Claire Hallissy. That dream came to a mysterious end in the snowy woods of Sussex County, 1,000 miles from his hometown in Guys, Tennessee, and 300 more from Fort Drum, New York, where he'd been stationed since July 2019. 

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Mellish was also stationed at Fort Drum. The two met to exchange vehicles last week in Watertown, New York, about 10 miles southwest of the base.

Authorities did not release any information on the teen, including hometown or relationship to the soldiers. 

Authorities said a dispute may be behind the abduction of Harris in his truck by Mellish, who then allegedly drove more than 300 miles to his hometown of Brooklyn. The two soldiers and the juvenile then traveled to Ross Road in Byram, where investigators believe Harris was killed.

Byram Township police found Harris' body, nearly buried under snow, about 200 feet into the woods off the cul-de-sac. Firefighters called police to the scene after they found blood and several scattered items while on their annual Santa ride through the township.

Mellish is being held in military custody in Oneida County, New York. The 16-year-old is lodged in a juvenile detention facility, the Prosecutor's Office said. 

The arrest of the two suspects involved a collaborative effort by the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office; the Byram Police Department; New Jersey State Police; the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate of the U.S. Army Fort Drum & 10th Mountain Division; the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command at Fort Drum; the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office; the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department; and the NYPD Department of Investigations Squad.

This article includes previous reporting by Lori Comstock.