Harley Ray Williams was born in Oklahoma on September 24th 2015 to parents Ivan Williams and Shelby love Harley had short red hair a soft smile and pale blue eyes according to shoria good who took care of the toddler at daycare she was a happy and lovable little girl she said she was just the happiest kid always smiling never any issues with her she was just a sweet little girl everyone that she came in contact with just loved her caretakers described her as a free spirit in a bundle of energy they said Harley love going to the beach
and love being outside one of the pictures her family shared online showed her on a sandy beach with waves breaking in the background she wore a blue dress with pink buttons and smiled for the camera Shelby and Ivan had a troubled relationship they got married around 2013 were only married for 3 years and didn’t stay together long after Harley was born in August of 2016 Shelby filed for a protective order against Ivan claiming that he had hurt her September just a month after the judge granted that order Ivan violated it by driving
by the place Shelby worked around that time their divorce was finalized and she was given custody of Harley as a result Ivan was allowed visitation with his daughter but not until he took court-ordered parenting classes he didn’t complete those classes but soon that didn’t even matter even though she had full custody Shelby was supposed to let Ivan know if she moved out of Oklahoma instead she disappeared leaving Ivan and his family searching for Harley for more than a year by early 2018 Shelby had moved to the state of
Virginia and was living with Harley in the Sandy Beach Towers Apartment Complex in the East Ocean View section of Norfolk she claimed she left Oklahoma because she was fleeing a relationship marked by DV but it didn’t take her long to find an even worse relationship with her new boyfriend John Tucker Hardy John had three kids of his own but he wasn’t allowed to see any of them in fact he wasn’t allowed to be unsupervised around children at all because he was still on probation for DV and CA 2011 he was in a
relationship with jacyn coats and she was 14 weeks pregnant with his son when they got into a fight that turned physical John was planning a trip out of town with his friends and jacine was angry about his plans and told him to leave the house they fought and during the argument Jon threw a cell phone aiming at and hitting her in her pregnant belly he told her that he wished the baby would die jacine got a protective order against JN because of that incident but that only protected her 5 months later when the baby was
born his father still had the right to get custody that seems to be exactly what he did in March of 2013 an unnamed girlfriend called police in child protective services because Jon had strangled her and abandoned his 14-month-old baby she turned the toddler over to CPS who noted he was DEH hydrated and unkempt he could sit and crawl but wasn’t walking yet he appeared to be underfed and investigators believed he had been physically neglected as well as medically neglected his last doctor’s visit had been when he
was only 6 months old and he had missed several important appointments he wasn’t growing or gaining weight like he should have and seemed to be developmentally delayed the girlfriend told investigators that she saw Jonathan hold the baby up by the neck with one hand and that they often had to keep the baby home from social events because of the bruising she also showed them a text message Jan had sent her saying he would kill him if he doesn’t stop crying doctors at the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk examined
the toddler and found dozens of injuries many of them serious he had what they described as an extensive skull fracture with scalp swelling that wasn’t caused by an accident the report explained that he had been hit on purpose saying fractures to the back of the skull and ones that cross suture lines such as this one require a great deal of force this non-ambulatory child would not be capable of producing that degree of force on his own it is also not the result of a short fall such as a fall from a couch he has suffered a
significant Blow To The Head they also found that the boy had broken vertebrae in his back noting fractures to his T8 T9 and T10 vertebrae likely caused by forcing him into a seated position they said that type of injury is typically seen when a child is forced onto the but forcefully collapsing the vertebrae the damage to the spine would never heal and it caused a permanent loss of height that he’ll have to deal with for the rest of his life his right tibia or shin bone had also been broken and was in the process of healing he could not bear
weight on that leg and doctors thought that might have interfered with him learning to walk in addition to the broken bones doctors also found extensive bruising he had multiple bruises on his face including a pair of circular bruises on both sides of his jaw that were consistent with the Story the girlfriend told of witnessing Jon holding the baby up by the neck he had bruises on both cheeks the tip of his nose under his bottom lip and on his right ear they found more bruises on his upper right arm both shoulders on his
back and on his abdomen he had a band of ptia or broken blood vessels across his abdomen under his belly button to his hips he also had a bruise on his adrenal gland an organ deep within the body this type of bruise was very unusual and normally only seen in children that had been in accidents according to the doctors they said the adrenal bruise would have required Force well outside that of normal play or parenting the report also mentioned that the toddler’s feet all the way up to his ankles were bright red but the doctors didn’t have
an explanation for that finding they noted the boy had observed DV occurring in the home based on the report the girlfriend gave that Jon had hit and strangled her but the injuries to the boy didn’t happen accidentally while Jon was committing DV against his girlfriend after observing the extent of his injuries doctors concluded that the toddler appears to have been targeted for violence while investigating the situation police Enlisted the girlfriend to participate in a phone sting aimed at getting a confession out of Jon during
their tape phone call Jon admitted he hid his son he said so [ __ ] what I smacked him in his [ __ ] face because he ate dog food four [ __ ] times in 2014 John plad guilty to strangulation neglect and ca he was sentenced to 15 years in prison but get this with 12 years suspended for good behavior which that’s that’s really stupid we just put him right back on the street now one of his conditions of his parole was that he was to have no contact with miners but we’ll see about that counting the time he spent before his sentencing and his
good behavior by early 2016 John was already out on parole instead of living at the approved address he listed with his probation officer he was staying at a home where three children lived in direct violation of his parole conditions but he didn’t get in any trouble inexplicably in May a judge reaffirmed his probation through 2029 instead of sending him back to jail none of this makes any sense he admitted he beat a 14-month-old toddler so badly that his skull was broken his spine was permanently damaged and he had to wear a
neck brace for months while he recovered but the system treated it as if it was a minor offense releasing John less than 3 years later and not enforcing his parole conditions by December of 2017 JN had somehow convinced another woman to date him but she broke up with him on December 22nd the very next day he came back to her home and she told him she was going to call the police if he didn’t leave he insisted she needed to come out and talk to him but she declined instead tried to close her front door he pushed it open shoved her
and grabbed her by the neck she grabbed the door and tried to close it again when she repeated that she was going to call the police he said call them he again pushed the door open smacking her in the face in the ear eventually the police did arrive and she filed a complaint against him that same month December of 2017 John met Shelby it’s unclear whether he waited until after he was dumped or if he dated both women at the same time but in the early months of 2018 he and Shelby got closer 2 months after they first met in February of 2018
he moved in with Shelby and 2-year-old Harley now he had access to another child he could Target for violence and he often had unsupervised access to the toddler because Shelby frequently let him watch Harley by himself while she was at work two months after he moved in on April 23rd Shelby again left Harley alone with John while she went to work now sometime during that afternoon something terrible happened in the apartme
nt at 4:29 p.m. John sent Shelby a text message that said I’m going to prison at 4:41 he texted again this one said that she should hurry home when she finally got home at 5:20 Shelby said he handed Harley to her and said please don’t break up with me John told her Harley had been accidentally burned by hot bath water he said he was getting her ready for a bath and stepped away for just a few seconds and that the injury occurred during that short amount of time according to John Shelby didn’t think the burns were significant so the couple decided to treat her at home she
sent John to the drug store to pick up medal supplies and he left her there with Harley while he went to the store the couple soaked rags and apple cider vinegar and applied it to her Burns they also gave the toddler Tylenol and Pedialite and applied Vaseline and burn creams that contained lidocaine Shelby told a different story she said she realized Harley had severe burns when she saw her daughter and that she wanted to call 911 but JN was afraid he would be arrested she said he took her cell phone and wouldn’t let her call she was
so afraid of him and that’s why she had to treat Harley’s injuries at home sometime that evening two texts were sent from Shelby’s cell phone but it is unclear who wrote them both went to one of Shelby’s friends one the friend was told Harley had been scalded by hot water but the burns had been examined by a doctor which wasn’t true in the second text the friend was told that injuries occurred at a DV shelter and not at the apartment at around 3:30 in the morning about 11 hours after the first text to Shelby John said he noticed Harley was
shaking struggling to breathe and unable to wake up he called 911 and police and paramedics quickly arrived when they got there Harley was having a seizure and was unresponsive they could see right away that she was burned all over they estimated between 30% and 50% of her body had been scalded they noted that her injuries were so bad that her skin had begun sloughing off in body cam footage of one of the responding officers paramedics discuss the skin falling off her feet she also had other injuries including a large bruise on the
back of her head injuries that couldn’t be explained by hot bath water they rushed her to the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters but she was too far gone shortly after she arrived at the emergency room Harley was pronounced dead John continued to insist it was an accident and blamed a faulty water heater El’s mother Lois love was notified about Harley’s death and she was granted next of kin WS in early May Harley’s father Ivan who hadn’t seen his daughter since Shelby had left the state with her didn’t find out until a week
after the hearing no one called to tell him instead he found out through an acquaintance who had heard what happened from Lois JN and Shelby were both arrested the day Harley died at their first bond hearing the judge said she was at a loss for words after looking at pictures of the burns the toddler’s back legs arms bottom and feet she said the incident was horrific and denied the request for Bond they were both in Norfolk City Jail though within a month or so JN was moved by the sheriff to Hampton Roads Regional Jail where he was
held on behalf of the city John and Shelby were both initially charged with felony CA and neglect their charges were upgraded in November of 2018 to include felony murder for both of them his ex experts thought Harley could have survived if she had gotten prompt medical treatment JN was also charged with second-degree murder and two counts of malicious wounding in February of 2019 Shelby’s attorneys filed a motion saying they plann to argue that she suffered from battered woman’s syndrome and her fear of Jon kept her from
getting help for her daughter’s injuries they said he was so dangerous that she feared for her life in their motion they said she suffered several traumas in her past including two SAS in previous DV they claimed those incidents informed her decision to be in a physically and mentally abusive relationship with Hardy however her case never reached the trial stage because she pled guilty to felony murder and child neglect on October 28th 2020 she agreed to testify against John at his trial in 2021 JN filed a complaint against the city of Norfolk
the sheriff the Commonwealth attorneys and basically anyone else he could think of because he was moved to the Hampton Roads jail among his complaints he listed that he had contracted the virus that was so prevalent in 2020 and he thought he would not have gotten sick if he had been left at the Northfolk City Jail the court found that he had no constitutional right to be housed in the facility of his choosing and dismissed his case as frivolous later he filed another complaint claiming some of his mail had been opened inappropriately but
that case was also dismissed finally in July of 2022 his trial for Harley’s murder began he chose a bench trial instead of a jury trial so Judge John R Doyle III alone would decide whether he was guilty one of the prosecutors Commonwealth Attorney Ramen fatahi told the judge the crime that the defendant committed against this little girl is one of the worst I have ever seen my heart breaks for that little girl as she agreed to in her plea agreement shall be testified at the trial she said that she and Jon had been living together for
about 2 months and she told the judge she regularly allowed Jon to watch Harley while she was at work she said he was alone with Harley when she got Burns Deputy Commonwealth Attorney Jill Harris revealed the details surrounding his 2014 conviction for CA and told the Judge John was still on probation for that offense saying he wasn’t supposed to be around children and at no point does he take responsibility prosecutors also brought in experts to explain Harley’s autopsy report in addition to the severe burns covering large sections
of her body the autopsy also showed she suffered multiple blunt force injuries she wasn’t just burned she had also been beaten she had a 7in contusion or large bruise on the back of her head and serious bruising on her chest and ear she also had a big bruise on her abdomen and an internal injury to her small intestine experts testified that the bruising was consistent with CA the prosecutor pointed out that many of Harley’s injuries were similar to the injuries John’s son suffered when he was beaten and punched in the head at the
hands of his own father he also had bruising to the back of his head and ear as well as a Al injuries and internal bleeding doctors explain that toxic amounts of Lidocaine were found in Harley’s blood from the medicine applied to her extensive open wounds she only weighed 26 lbs and her tiny body was ravaged by Burns serious Burns covering about 42% of her skin including Burns to her legs back arms bottom feet and left ear a pediatrician who specializes in identifying CA testified that her Burns were consistent with immersion burn
injuries meaning the type of burns that happen into skin submerged in scalding hot water chillingly he also noticed the absence of Splash marks which would be expected if she was moving around in the hot water overall her injuries were consistent with lying immobile in a bathtub that does not match the story Jon told which she was the one who turned on the hot water coupled with the bruising on her body makes it seem likely that she was unconscious in the tub or held down with enough Force to keep her from moving though this wasn’t
mentioned in the the testimony makes us wonder if he had hit her so hard in the head she was unconscious when he put her in the bathtub her cause of death was complications of scalding with several bruises on her body and a large contusion on her scalp after causing these severe injuries John waited hours before calling 911 Deputy CA Harris pointed out that JN and Shelby covered her wounds with vinegar soaked Rags which would have been incredibly painful they waited so long to call for help that by the time First Responders showed
up her severely burned skin was peeling off she was suffering from seizures in his closing statements Commonwealth Attorney fatahi called this one of the worst cases he had ever seen he said and I quote the violence John Hardy inflicted on little Harley the burns he forced her to suffer and the treatment of her injuries that was worse than torture is one of the most depraved I have seen in my career little Harley lived her last hours in agony had she gotten medical help she might have lived instead she suffered and she died Mr
hardy has earned his sentence we will remember Harley on July 13th judge Doyle found John guilty of CA malicious wounding and second deegree murder he was prepared to sentence him soon after the verdict but John filed a motion requesting a new attorney because he claimed his attorney did not adequately defend him in particular he said his attorney didn’t call an expert to testify about the broken water heater in the apartment his attorney was replaced and would need additional time to get up to speed so the sentencing was delayed
on October 28th John agreed to do a jail house interview with a local Virginia television station 13 news now in ABC affiliate during the interview he repeatedly insisted he was innocent he told the reporter it is horrible that Harley is gone there is no getting her back but I can’t go away for the rest of my life for something I didn’t do he also denied mistreating or intimidating Shelby he said I did not murder Harley this was not my intent no one held her down no one one stopped her mother from taking her to the hospital none of that
off Man convicted of killing a child is speaking out for the first time and we want to warn you some of the details in this story are disturbing John Hardy was found guilty of murder over the summer for the death of 2-year-old Harley Williams in 2018 today a judge delayed Hardy’s sentencing after he asked for a new lawyer Hardy maintained his innocence when he spoke to Allison basil from behind bars it just it was a horrible accident in July a judge convicted John Hardy of felony murder felony child neglect and
malicious wounding for the death of Harley Williams prosecutor said Hardy scaled the 2-year-old girl with hot water and it happened in April 2018 but Hardy says he sat the child in the bathtub and walked away briefly I checked the temperature and this was literally about 60 to 70 seconds that I was away from her before hearing her yell that’s when Hardy says he grabbed the girl from the tub noticed burn turns and immediately texted her mother and I said oh my God I’m going to prison and hurry home prosecutors said Hardy and
the child’s mother Shelby love failed to get the child proper care for several hours following the incident they say the child’s skin was coming off love pleaded guilty to felony murder and child neglect in 2020 the night of the incident Hardy says love sent him to the drug store to get medical supplies investigators say the couple called 911 around 3:30 in the morning when the child had a seizure she later died at the hospital I I did not murder Harley that this was not my intent Hardy says his apartment had a faulty hot water
heater he says his attorneys didn’t call any Witnesses during trial including an expert who would testify about the heater so he asked for a new lawyer in court today a noric judge granted Hardy’s request Hardy hopes the new lawyer can help his case I mean it’s horrible that Harley’s gone there’s no getting her back but I can’t go away for the rest of my life for something that I didn’t do however he did seem to make one mistake according to the original story he told Shelby he was getting ready to run a bath for the toddler but
stepped out of the room to make a quick call this version of events it seems he was saying the water wasn’t running and Harley turned it on herself when he was out of the room when he talked the reporter though he said he checked the temperature and this was literally about 60 to 70 seconds I was away from her before hearing her yell this version he seems to admit he turned the water on not a huge mistake but the kind of mistake that seems much more likely if he was telling him madeup story instead of remembering the truth finally on May
26th of 2023 judge Doyle sentenced JN to what amounts to 35 years in prison he was given 10 years for the charge of malicious wounding 10 years for CA and 25 years for second deegree murder with 10 years suspended the sentence handed down was 6 years longer than the sentencing guidelines suggested for second-degree murder but it still doesn’t seem long enough after release he has to spend 10 years on supervised probation during which he must have no contact with miners that almost feels like a sick joke since that was the same
the exact same probation condition he was blatantly disregarding when he murdered Harley he was 38 at the time of his sentencing which means he will be 73 years old when he is eligible for release if he gets out hopefully his next parole officer will make sure he stays far away from vulnerable children on June 23rd 2023 Shelby was sentenced to 15 years in prison for her role in her daughter’s murder Harley’s father Ivan and his family were grief stricken after they learned of her death Ivan’s sister also named Shelby said we are
devastated my brother can’t eat cannot sleep and is heartbroken he loved his daughter very much we all love Harley the grief was made even greater because Ivan disagreed with the maternal grandmother Lois in regards to how Harley should be buried after Lois was appointed next of kin Ivan emailed the following message to the judge explaining how no one even told him about Harley’s death he wrote Shelby never contacted us about it nor claimed Harley as soon as we were told about it from an acquaintance of Lois I called
the medical examiner’s office to claim my daughter and set up arrangements and paid for also three separate times Lois has intervened with a paper stating she had custody of Harley the Metropolitan Funeral Home said it looked fishy we learned Lois petition for an emergency hearing for custody of poor heart ‘s remains is there any way of possibly stopping this order we have been looking for her for over a year when her mother fled with her this makes the whole situation even more disgusting and sickening I just want to lay my daughter
to rest both families wanted Harley to be brought back to Oklahoma where most of her family lives but they disagreed about what should happen when she got there IV wanted a lock of his daughter’s hair and then wanted to have her cremated her ashes interred in a nearby sem so her half sisters and family could visit her her grandmother wanted her to have a proper burial though the family didn’t have a public service Harley was buried at Falon Cemetery in chikasa Oklahoma and the two families seem to have come to a compromise her headstone
reads Harley Ray love Williams deeply loved daughter sister and granddaughter images of flowers seashells and a wave hitting a beach are engraved on the plaque in remember rembrance of the things that little Harley loved about a week after Harley’s death residents from her Ocean View neighborhood gathered to honor her memory and offer Comfort to her family even though they live far away in Oklahoma organizer Shannon Hawkins hoped the vigil would help her family members know that Norfolk Virginia is not just a place of sadness
for them they’ll know we came together as a community and did something we want to let them know we care at the vigil attendees looked at pictures of Harley blw bubbles wrote me mesages on rocks and set up a cross with her name on it he had a moment of silence in the toddler’s honor Aaron Ferguson who knew both John and Shelby wrote Fly High beautiful on her Rock Faith gon who knew John said it’s hard to think anybody you know could do something like this and we all have children so if it was one of our children we would want the same
support in Ocean View some call a person’s heart stone cold if they ever harm a child is an unnecessary heinous crime I just couldn’t see you having to do that to any of my kids it’s why tonight neighbors are choosing to write uplifting thoughts on these Stones I’m just wishing your family all the love and prayers love Aaron to remember a 2-year-old girl whose smile they never saw in person but just through the pictures I felt just this little connection you know to let her extended family know this community cares Harley
Ray gone but not forgotten organiz say Harley Williams father and extended family are in Oklahoma they say these stones will eventually be sent to them but they say they aren’t going to stop writing until something changes hopefully Implement a new law a law that Shannon Hawkins says would bring more awareness to people who cause abuse she’s disgusted that one of those charged in this case John Hardy is accused of doing harm to another child that they will have to register so that we will know when a child is in our neighborhood so
that no other face like Harley’s has to be remembered with bubbles and grief it has to stop organizer Hawkins also asked attendees to sign a petition asking government officials to create a national CA registry like the one that already exists for people who commit sa saying it is up to us to speak up for Harley the way she could not if this part sounds familiar to you particularly the discussion of a National Registry it might be because we covered this same topic in our video about heaven Watkins another girl who was murdered by her
mother’s boyfriend in the same city Northfolk Virginia on May 18th 2018 less than a month after Harley’s murder I do regret to inform you that if you haven’t seen Heaven’s episode that the proposal for a registry was shot down by politicians and did not go anywhere whatsoever two noic children killed in just two months Heaven Watkins and Harley Ray Williams lives and did far too soon allegedly by those who were supposed to take care of them 13 News Now investigative reporter Laura Geller sits down with Advocates to examine the
problems and solutions that could prevent child abuse in our community for weeks now we’ve been investigating tragic issues within the child protection system a system heavens and Harley’s loved ones say did not protect them and child prevention Advocates agree the system failed these children Heaven Watkins was just an 11-year-old a child who would become an innocent victim our investigation showed Heaven’s family had a history with child protection in Minnesota when the family moved to Norfolk CPS here got involved
in February but kept the little girl in her home just 3 months later Heaven would wind up dead her mom Latoya Smith and Smith’s boyfriend deont Harris are charged in her death to me look and de man is not the only ones that that killed Heaven Child Protection had a big part of that 2-year-old Harley Ray Williams another innocent victim in Norfolk Harley was allegedly killed by her mother’s boyfriend John Tucker Hardy she was scalded so badly her skin started to come off we’ve uncovered at the time Hardy was on probation for beating his
own son prosecutors say he never should have been living in the home with Harley it’s a lot it’s it’s a lot because she had her whole life ahead of her and it and it all could have been prevented in both cases the mothers and mother’s boyfriends sit in jail accused in the children’s death heaven and Harley are not alone the most recent data reveals in 86% of the founded child abuse deaths in our area the children died in the care of their parents did the system fail these children I think in this case I don’t I don’t think there is any
question the system did fail Melinda sakati is the executive director of Champions for Children in Hampton Roads you go oh no not again and then I look and I listen and I think okay how long is it going to take before something changes sakati explains there is a resource issue within the Department of Social Services it’s a system that’s overburdened and uh really is stretched to its its limit sources say there is consistent pressure for case workers to keep families together and not remove children from their homes in most cases and sakati
feels the reactive system needs to change its perspective if we are to stop abuse we must stop reacting to this and get out in front of a instead of case workers coming into to a home when something bad happens Social Services should be part of the family Dynamic before abuse ever starts we should be doing more of Home visiting what does it take to for home visiting programs it takes funding and it takes uh parameters that are established by legislators sakati believes everyone needs to step up what’s at stake here the lives of our
children and the safety of our children in the aftermath of Harley’s death neighbor vanity hurt was filled with regret because she heard the toddler screaming and crying and felt like something was wrong but she didn’t call and let anyone know after hearing from that neighbor a local reporter asked Johanna shusher the director of prevent CA Virginia what the woman should have done if you hear a child screaming and crying is it a tantrum or could it be something more this is a question that just seems to be plaguing many people
who knew the 2-year-old girl who was killed earlier this week news 3’s Allison mechanic spoke to a child expert today and shares what you should do if you find yourself in this situation I didn’t quite know what to do and I think at hindsight of course I think thinking back I should have uh done something neighbors and caretakers of the 2-year-old girl killed this week are second guessing themselves that’s what hurts us the most is because we didn’t see any signs and then now it’s like we sit back and we like was it something
that we missed that were we overlooking things wondering if they missed an important warning sign about trouble inside the ocean view home where she was found covered in Burns and unresponsive Tuesday morning when she was quiet at times was she trying to tell us something I felt like something was wrong and I did nothing advocates for preventing child abuse say these questions are normal after the tragic death of a child this is something that the public grapples with in this country all the time should I get involved if so
what should I do if these questions cross your mind Advocates say the best thing to do is to act now instead of later the simplest thing that you can do is pick up your phone and call the child hotline our phrase is if you see something say something even if you’re not sure about what you’re seeing they can call and say you know this is what I’m seeing this is what I’m uh observing is this something that is reportable reports can be made anonymously so if what a caller sees is just a misunderstanding there will be no
consequences but if the incident turns out to be abused a simple phone call could become a lifesaving action for more information about how to get help visit our website wtkr.com I’m Alison mechanic news3 does this sound familiar to you please say something if you don’t know the number in your area we’ll post a link below in our show notes to find the number for your state or you can simply dial 911 in Harley’s case a phone call might have gotten her help before it was too late
