MITCHELL — After reviewing additional evidence and autopsy results, Davison County prosecuting attorneys are dismissing a second-degree murder charge against a Michigan man who was charged for allegedly running over a woman multiple times and disposing of her body at a Mitchell gas station.
On Friday, Davison County State’s Attorney Jim Miskimins filed a motion to dismiss a second-degree murder charge against Anthony Melvin Harris, Sr., 60, of Detroit. According to the court document, prosecuting attorneys wrote that “the evidence does not support the continued prosecution of the defendant for second-degree murder as charged in the complaint.”
Photo courtesy of Davison County Sheriff’s Office
Harris, Sr., was charged with second-degree murder, a Class B felony, and improper disposal of a body, a misdemeanor, after an investigation into a dead woman’s body being found dumped under pallets at a Mitchell gas station.
The South Dakota Attorney General’s Office released additional information on Friday that stated the victim, Melody Faye Gooch, 57, of Detroit, died of an “accidental drug overdose.” The statement said Gooch’s overdose did not occur in South Dakota. Autopsy results showed Gooch’s death was caused by “combined drug toxicity due to Buprenorphine, Fentanyl, and Cocaine, and that the manner of death to be accidental.”
The final autopsy report also indicated the blunt force trauma Gooch sustained from being run over at the I-90 Travel Center “did not occur when she was alive,” according to the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.
While the second-degree murder charge has been dismissed, Harris, Sr., is still facing improper disposal, which is a Class 1 misdemeanor charge.
Following the early March investigation into the woman’s dismembered body, an arrest affidavit alleged Harris, Sr., ran the woman over multiple times and later disposed of the body at the I-90 Travel Center.
According to the affidavit, local police were called to the scene on March 11 and noted “it appeared the deceased person was struck by a vehicle in the parking lot where the human entrails were located. Around the human entrails was blood spatter consistent with a person being struck by a vehicle and then dragged away from the initial impact point.”
Officers found the woman’s head in a garbage container near the pallets, the affidavit said.
Harris, Sr., was arrested in Washington on March 14 following the investigation. He was extradited to Davison County and this week appeared in court for his first court hearing since being charged with second-degree murder and improper disposal.
Harris, Sr., was facing a maximum sentence of life in prison for the murder charge. With the dismissal of the murder charge, he’s now facing one misdemeanor charge that carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
It’s unclear whether Harris, Sr., will face charges in Michigan — where Gooch’s death is believed to have occurred.
Sam Fosness joined the Mitchell Republic in May 2018. He was raised in Mitchell, S.D., and graduated from Mitchell High School. He continued his education at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, where he graduated in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in English. During his time in college, Fosness worked as a news and sports reporter for The Volante newspaper.
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