After 8-year-old boy fatally shot by dad in Burnsville, his mom says: ‘Losing a child is like losing a limb’

Mara H. Gottfried, Pioneer Press
Updated ·4 min read

Eight-year-old Amir Harden was a determined, outgoing and protective boy — and that was evident in the incident that ended his life in his Burnsville home, his mother said Monday.

Cherish Williams, who’d been in a long-term relationship with Danair Harden, said her son was trying to get a gun away from his father when Harden accidentally shot him. Harden, 30, then shot himself.

The father and son were hospitalized. Amir Harden passed away in the days that followed and Danair Harden died less than two weeks after, on Father’s Day.

“Losing a child is like losing a limb; you’re never going to be whole again,” Williams said. And because Amir died while protecting her, Williams said, her grief has been more complicated.

Harden was trying to shoot Williams when Amir intervened, the boy’s mother said.

She said she’s been disheartened to see a narrative that her and Harden’s relationship was full of domestic abuse because she said that was not the case. While Williams said there had been recent violence, she thinks there needs to be more awareness about mental health and the role it played in what happened.

Williams said she’d recently ended her relationship with Harden, and was trying to find a way to co-parent with him. He was active in the lives of their five children, attending all their sporting events and parent-teacher conferences.

“I think, in his mind, that his family that he created was all that he had. And he felt like if he didn’t have that, his life wasn’t worth living,” said Williams. She and Harden had been high-school sweethearts and engaged to be married.

On May 30, Williams told police that she and Harden argued over her ending their relationship, and he grabbed her by the neck and pushed her on the bed, according to a criminal complaint. Harden was charged with three misdemeanors, and was released from jail on June 5, with bail set at $8,000.

Later that night, Williams said, she went for a long walk and came home. She said Harden still wanted to be in a relationship, but she made clear they were no longer together. She told him he needed to leave the home, but he yelled, “That’s it!,” she said.

Williams saw Harden start loading a gun and said she wrestled with him for it. Harden had a permit to carry and police found his two guns after the shootings, according to a court document and police reports.

“Amir came running out of his room, and was also kind of wrestling the gun out of his dad’s hand,” Williams said. Though the situation was horrific, Williams said she kept her voice calm as she told Amir to leave and go to the neighbor’s home. “Amir responded with, ‘I’m not leaving anywhere. I’m staying right here with you. I’m staying.’ ”

Williams said Amir was begging for his father to stop. Harden broke loose and ran downstairs, and Williams said she feared he was going to get the gun loaded and shoot her — which she didn’t want their children to see. She ran downstairs and Harden immediately turned around and fired.

“I didn’t realize at the moment that the bullet missed me and hit my 8-year-old,” she said. She thinks Harden “snapped out of a trance” then and wouldn’t have continued shooting.

When Harden realized he’d shot Amir, he turned the gun on himself. Their 7-year-old daughter screamed, “Daddy, no!”

“He said he was sorry and did it anyway,” Williams said of Harden shooting himself. She said people have called Harden cowardly for dying by suicide, but she said she understands that Harden’s realization he’d shot his son “was just too much pain for him to live with.”

Amir was the couple’s second oldest child, and his four siblings witnessed both shootings. Williams said she and her children are not doing well.

Donations to a GoFundMe allowed Williams and her children to move out of the home where the shootings happened, and have also helped since she’s been away from work as she struggles with PTSD and panic attacks. She is a licensed practical nurse and is trying to go back to work at the end of this month.

Amir was a second grader at Echo Park Elementary School of Leadership, Engineering and Technology in Burnsville. He was athletic and “one of those kids that was really just good at anything,” Williams said.

“It’s a just very big void,” she said of the loss of Amir and Danair Harden.

For help

Domestic violence help is available 24/7 through the Day One hotline by calling 866-223-1111 or texting 612-399-9995.

People can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

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