A 10-year-old Tennessee girl escaped a man who allegedly tore out her bedroom window’s air conditioning unit and kidnapped her into the woods, where police said he tied her to a tree and threatened to sexually assault her.
The accused kidnapper, Steven Devonte Harris, was arrested the evening of Wednesday, September 23, in connection with the abduction earlier that morning, according to a news release shared the next day by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Harris, 30, of Newbern, is charged with two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated assault, aggravated burglary and attempted rape of a child.
According to authorities, Harris forcibly abducted the 10-year-old girl from her Newbern home, threatened and assaulted her.
The child’s mother, Crystal Brown, said in a social media post that a man tore her daughter’s AC window unit out, then abducted her by dragging her out of the home, per WMC-TV.
“He ripped out the window AC to her bedroom window & drug her out of the house into the woods!!!!!!!,” Brown wrote in a Facebook post, which was edited to note her child was ultimately safe.
A police report obtained by the TV station states that in the woods, the man used a belt to tie the 10-year-old to a tree, held a knife at her throat and threatened he’d rape her.
The girl eventually found a way to escape and went to a neighbor, seeking help, before Harris “caught up with her again,” according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
The neighbor’s “quick actions helped save her life,” the agency’s news release said.
A neighbor who spoke with WBBJ-TV said she awoke to the sound of screaming around 12:50 a.m. on Wednesday and that the girl fled to her aunt’s home near the child’s mother’s residence. The neighbor also said the alleged kidnapper ran after the girl’s aunt went outside holding a spiked bat.
“We arrived on the scene shortly after that,” Newbern Police Department Chief Greg Barr said, per the TV station. “The child was taken to the hospital just to be checked out, but she appeared to be fine. And again, that’s a blessing. We thank God that child was not seriously hurt or injured.”
Harris was identified as the suspect after evidence related to the abduction was tested for DNA, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Rapid DNA processing confirmed his identity, leading to his arrest.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Harris had retained legal counsel.
Harris was detained at the Dyer County Jail, according to authorities.
