Fort Drum murder trial scheduled to start in October

Sep. 24—FORT DRUM — A Fort Drum soldier and former Watertown teen accused of killing another soldier are scheduled to go on trial in late October.

Former Army Spc. Jamaal Mellish and his former girlfriend's brother, Hannan Aiken, 17, are accused of kidnapping and killing Cpl. Hayden Harris after a dispute the two soldiers had over swapping their vehicles nearly two years ago.

The trial is tentatively scheduled to start on Oct. 31 but can be postponed pending some "outstanding legal issues," Sussex County first assistant prosecutor Greg Mueller said Friday.

They are going on trial together, he said. Mellish is representing himself.

The trial is expected to take about eight weeks, including about two weeks to seat a jury, Mr. Mueller said.

Attorney Joel Harris, who could not be reached for comment, has been appointed Mellish's standby counsel, and will be on hand to answer questions and advise on legal strategy.

Mellish can make motions, argue points of law, question witnesses and handle opening statements and closing summations.

Aiken, who was 16 at the time of the murder in December 2020, is being tried as an adult. Mellish remains behind bars in a New Jersey correctional facility.

Aiken is being held at the same facility after he was moved there following some incidents in which he was involved at a juvenile facility.

They are accused of forcing Cpl. Harris at gunpoint to ride in the backseat of a pickup truck for more than four hours to Byram Township, and then shooting him in the head. His body was found partially covered by snow next to a cul-de-sac in the northern New Jersey township.

Mellish allegedly agreed to swap his Chevrolet Silverado for Harris's Ford Mustang in July 2020, months before the corporal was murdered in December.

But Cpl. Harris was dissatisfied with the circumstances of the transaction and wanted his Mustang back, which angered Mellish, prosecutors have said.

Cpl. Harris was having trouble getting the pickup truck registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The two soldiers allegedly agreed to return the vehicles back to each other. They met in a Glen Park parking lot, where Mellish ordered Cpl. Harris in the backseat of the Silverado.

At that point, however, Mellish no longer owned the Mustang. He had sold the sports car several months before the killing.

Fort Drum reported Cpl. Harris missing on Dec. 17 and his body was discovered the next day. Aiken and Mellish were apprehended by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office after a deputy stopped them in the Silverado on Arsenal Street in Watertown.

The teen allegedly held Cpl. Harris at gunpoint in the backseat during the more than 300-mile drive to New Jersey, while Mellish drove the corporal's pickup there.

Prosecutors have video evidence from a cellphone showing Aiken brandishing a handgun just hours before meeting up with Mellish.

The teen allegedly gave a statement to police pointing out that Mellish was the killer.

Sahil Kabse, an assistant prosecutor in Sussex County, is prosecuting the case. Shaina Brenner will assist him as second chair.

Thomas Militano, with the Sussex County Public Defender's Office, is representing Aiken. He declined to comment.

Sussex County Judge Michael C. Gaus is presiding over the trial.