FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: David Chapman
Phone: (904) 255-3004
Cell: (904) 524-6626
ChapmanD@coj.net
March 15, 2024
HARRIS AND CANNIMORE SENTENCED FOR MURDER OF 5-YEAR-OLD GIRL
State Attorney Melissa Nelson announces that the Honorable Mark Borello sentenced Jonte Harris to life in Florida State Prison for First-Degree Murder, Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child, and Aggravated Child Abuse of 5-year-old Zykerria Robinson. Michelle Cannimore, Robinson’s mother, was sentenced to 30 years for Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child for her role in her daughter’s death. A jury found Harris guilty on Feb. 8, 2024, and Cannimore pleaded guilty to the court before his trial.
Around 4:30 a.m. Oct. 18, 2018, officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded to a Westside home for an unresponsive child. Jacksonville Fire and Rescue took Robinson to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. A medical exam found multiple injuries in various stages of healing, indicative of long-term abuse. Child Protection Team doctors found she had severe head trauma and four adult human bite marks on her body. Post Miranda, police interviewed Cannimore and Harris. They were in a relationship, and Cannimore told detectives Harris had abused her daughter for months. That night, Harris struck Robinson until she was unconscious. Harris and Cannimore placed her — still unresponsive but breathing — on the couch while Cannimore went to work from 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Cannimore returned home to find Robinson still unresponsive. They waited another four hours before calling 911. During the investigation, Harris and Cannimore’s phones were downloaded. A forensic investigation uncovered a myriad of messages between the two discussing Harris’ abuse of Robinson. Harris also made several searches on his phone about her injuries such as “blood in toddler’s urine,” “broken collarbone,” and “body shakes pupil dilation.”
The case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Lauren Anderson and Dan Skinner.