Judge to consider lower bond for woman involved in Battle Creek mental health shooting
A judge said he will issue a written answer to a motion to lower the bond for a woman charged in the Dec. 15 shooting outside a mental health clinic.
Sareedi Harris, 40, is being held on a half-million-dollar bond and is charged with eight counts including assault with intent to murder and weapons violations.
She was arrested after Battle Creek police said she fired a gun nearly hitting a worker at Summit Point First Step at 175 College Ave.
Officers had gone to take her into custody on a mental health pick-up order.
On Tuesday Angela Easterday, an assistant Calhoun County Public Defender, asked for a lower bond for Harris.
"The issue currently is she needs medical help," Easterday told District Judge Jason Bomia. "We would like her released to the Fieldstone Center so she can get the help she needs."
The center is part of Bronson Battle Creek and provides mental health treatment.
"She does need that and she agrees that she needs that," Easterday said.
Harris is awaiting a preliminary examination scheduled for next week and Easterday said her attorneys already asked for an evaluation at the Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Saline to determine if Harris is competent to stand trial and criminally responsible for her actions.
"We are asking that her bond be lowered so she can address those issues because her ability to engage in this process can not happen until this gets addressed," Easterday said.
Assistant Calhoun County Prosecutor Geofrey Bilabaye opposed the motion and argued the bond should not be lowered.
"She committed a violent felony," Bilabaye said. "She is a danger to society and to herself. She presents a serious danger to society because she discharged a firearm towards a social worker."
Police have said Harris was at the mental health clinic and officials there asked for the immediate pick-up.
When officers arrived Harris was locked in her car with her two young daughters and had a handgun.
Sgt. Chad Fickle began to break a window of the car. As Detective Brandin Huggett arrived Harris fired a shot from the handgun, police said, narrowly missing the worker standing outside the vehicle and "it could have been a fatality," Bilabaye said.
Both officers fired at Harris and she was hit in the shoulder.
Harris then backed into Fickle's patrol car, rammed another vehicle and then backed a second time into the patrol car before leaving. She was found at a nearby house and arrested.
Easterday said if Harris is released from jail and held at the Fieldstone Center she can receive treatment and be taken for her scheduled evaluations.
But Bilabaye said Harris assaulted a jail employee Tuesday morning, further showing she is a danger.
"All of it has to do with Ms. Harris' mental health," Easterday argued.
Bomia said he wanted to consider the motion before issuing a written decision.
Contact Trace Christenson at 269-966-0685 or tchrist@battlecreekenquirer.com
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Judge considers lower bond for woman charged in Battle Creek shooting
