Jordan Ellan Harmon (Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office)
A 28-year-old mother in Alabama denies killing her 15-month-old son, who died two years ago after suffering a brutal head trauma. Jordan Ellan Harmon, who flashed a grin from ear to ear as he posed for his photo after his 2021 arrest, officially pleaded not guilty last week to one count of murder, child abuse aggravated and chemically endangering a child in the April 2021 murder of young Emery Michael Knox Wilson, authorities confirmed to Law&Crime.
Travius Sebastian Coleman, 30, who was Harmon’s boyfriend at the time of Emery’s death, faces the same set of charges as well as an additional count of aggravated child abuse.
According to a press release from the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded on April 11, 2021 to an incident at the intersection of Highway 24 and County Road 214. Upon arriving at the scene, the first responders found someone performing CPR on a toddler. on the floor of a van. An ambulance was dispatched to the scene and the toddler was taken to Decatur-Morgan Hospital. Due to the severity of the child’s injuries, he was later taken to Alabama Children’s Hospital in Birmingham for more specialist treatment.
On April 12, 2021, Harmon, then 26, was arrested and charged with one count of aggravated child abuse. She was sentenced to Lawrence County Jail on $60,000 bond. Sadly, a day after his mother was arrested, 15-month-old Emery was pronounced dead.
After approximately five months in custody, Harmon, on September 17, 2021, was released after posting $60,000 bond.
It wasn’t until the autopsy report came back in January 2022 with critical information about the case — including the cause of death and the extent of the toddler’s injuries — that Harmon and Coleman were brought back for questioning.
Lawrence County Sheriff Max Sanders said the report showed the toddler died from blunt force trauma to the head. The autopsy further showed that the toddler had abrasions, bruises and lacerations to his scalp, a depressed skull fracture and a fractured left forearm. In addition, toxicological tests revealed the presence of cannabinoids in the baby’s system.
Following an interview with investigators on Jan. 25, 2022, Coleman was arrested and jailed, the sheriff’s office said.
Harmon on January 26, 2022, was asked about the findings of Emery’s autopsy report. Based on her answers, she was taken into custody a second time and charged with abusing and killing her son.
Last month, a Lawrence County grand jury indicted Harmon and Coleman on the aforementioned charges, according to a report by Huntsville CBS affiliate WHNT-TV.
Court documents obtained by the station allegedly accuse the couple of “shaking, punching, punching or otherwise causing serious injury” to Emery “on more than one occasion.” They also reportedly said Harmon and Coleman had “tortured, deliberately abused, cruelly beaten or otherwise intentionally mistreated” the toddler.
Additionally, Harmon was charged with refusing to seek medical attention for a child who suffered “serious injuries requiring medical attention and treatment, including but not excluding injuries to the head, arm and chest.” groin at least three times,” according to WHNT. .
Both suspects are currently in jail with similar bonds of $1,680,000.
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