On January 26, 2017, the quiet community of Fairdealing, Missouri, was shaken by the tragic discovery of three bodies inside a rural home in Ripley County. Maycie Dove Harris, a 4-year-old White female, was found deceased alongside her younger brother, Gunner Lee Coleman, and their mother. The grim scene was uncovered after a school worker became concerned when the children failed to arrive for classes that morning and alerted authorities around 2 p.m., prompting a welfare check at the
residence.
Upon entering the home, law enforcement officials found Maycie and her 2-year-old brother, both of whom had suffered fatal gunshot wounds. Their mother, 32-year-old Laura Coleman, was also discovered dead at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Investigators determined that Coleman had shot both of her children before turning the weapon on herself in an apparent murder-suicide. Sheriff Mike Barton later confirmed that neither of the children’s fathers lived at the residence and that the family had been the sole occupants of the home at the time of the incident.
Due to the death of the perpetrator at the scene, no arrests were made, and no criminal charges were filed in connection with the killings. Authorities officially closed the case after concluding that Coleman was the sole suspect responsible for the deaths of Maycie and Gunner. The sudden violence left family members and the surrounding community in a state of shock, with memorials later held to honor the young lives cut short just days before Maycie’s fifth birthday.
