In the quiet, leafy suburban neighborhood of Fort Washington, Maryland, a tragic discovery was made in the early morning hours of August 4, 2011. Inside a home on the 11800 block of Hickory Drive, police officers found the bodies of 56-year-old Patricia Mercer-Harris and her 20-year-old son, Frank Arthur Harris Jr. Both had been shot and were pronounced deceased at the scene.
The initial investigation revealed that the two had been left on a couch, positioned in a way that made it appear as if they were sleeping.
The grim discovery was made by Frank Arthur Harris, Patricia's husband and Frank Jr.'s father, the following day. While he was initially questioned, he was later cleared as a suspect in the double homicide. The investigation into the deaths of the mother and son continued, as the community was left shaken by the violent act that had occurred in their midst.
The breakthrough in the case came with the arrest of Quindell Mercer, who was identified as Patricia's son and Frank Jr.'s stepbrother. During his arrest, Mercer reportedly threw four guns out of a window. One of these weapons, a Desert Eagle. 45-caliber handgun, was later identified as the weapon used to kill his mother and stepbrother. In November 2012, Quindell Mercer was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder for the slayings. He faced a potential sentence of 110 years in prison for the murders of his mother, Patricia Mercer Harris, and his stepbrother, Frank Lamar Harris.
