Duval County Jury Finds Harris Guilty of Murdering 5-Year-Old Girl

State Attorney Melissa Nelson announces that a Duval County jury found Jonte Harris guilty of First-Degree Murder, Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child, and Aggravated Child Abuse of 5-year-old Zykerria Robinson. With the verdict, Harris faces a mandatory life sentence in Florida State Prison. The Honorable Mark Borello will formally sentence Harris at a future hearing.

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 the child’s mother — Michelle Cannimore — and Harris. Cannimore and Harris were in a relationship, and she 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.”

Cannimore previously pleaded guilty to Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child and faces up to 30 years in prison. Judge Borello will sentence Cannimore at a later date.

The case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Lauren Anderson and Dan Skinner.