San Diego

Man Accused of Shooting Girlfriend As She Shielded Their Baby Appears in Court

A preliminary hearing is underway for a man accused of shooting his girlfriend multiple times as she shielded their 11-month-old baby in her arms last October.

Roderick Lamar Harris, 32, is accused of shooting 29-year-old Vanessa Marie Bobo in their shared apartment in Lake Murray on October 12, 2016. Bobo’s 5-year-old son witnessed the shooting and later helped officers identify Harris.

A witness in court described his account of a hysterical night of arguing between the couple that led up to an encounter on the patio of their apartment.

“When she looked straight face, that’s when he stood like this with his arms up like that [in a shooting stance],” neighbor Bryan Fields said.

“She talked when she got into the house,” added Fields. “She said ‘Just shoot me.’ Actually, it was more explicit than that.”

Harris kept his head down throughout testimony, periodically wiping tears from his eyes with a napkin.

Fields says he heard three loud gunshots before witnessing Harris exit the apartment and leave in a car. He says he immediately called the police. After hanging up with the police, Fields said he heard a child scream.

“I knocked on the door. I opened up the door, I see the baby and the- on the couch, and I hear the son say that his dad killed his mom.”

Family members of both Bobo and Harris were in the courtroom Thursday. Gasps and cries were heard when Fields detailed his encounter with the boy.

Fields said he then took the baby into his apartment and took the 5 year old downstairs to a neighbor and called the police again. In an effort to calm the crying baby, Fields said he showed it his fish tank inside.

An officer arrived at the scene and met Fields and his neighbor outside before going into Fields’ apartment to wait for backup. At that point the officer noticed a bullet hole in his wall. Fields says the bullet entered from a closet, went directly above his daughter’s bed and then into a hall closet.

Contact Us