Former deputy/pastor, now deceased, named probable suspect of 1983 cold case rape/murder of 11 year-old girl
SLCSO officials believe there may be other victims throughout North Central Florida
In a press conference on February 17, 2022, officials with the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office (SLCSO) in Fort Pierce, Florida, said that a former deputy, who was also an ordained minister, James Howard Harrison, has been identified as the only probable suspect of the 1983 murder of an 11 year-old girl, Lora Ann Huizar, who was reported missing by her family on Nov. 6, 1983. Lora's body was found, three days later on Nov. 9, 1983, face down in a drainage ditch, raped and murdered.
When the SLCSO started its Cold Case Squad, two and a half years ago, Detective Paul Taylor selected this particular case because the victim was a child. Detective Taylor solved this case, which only happens in about 2% of cold cases, and only 7% of law enforcement agencies nationwide have a full-time cold case unit dedicated to working only on cold cases. According to St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken J. Mascara, Detective Taylor has been invited to be a member of the Florida Sheriff's Association (FSA), Cold Case Committee.
“We have established probable cause to determine that Harrison abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered the juvenile victim and later altered the crime scene by placing the victim in a drainage ditch, in an attempt to destroy physical evidence," said SLCSO Chief Deputy Brian Hester. He explained that there is sufficient evidence to arrest suspect Harrison for the murder of Lora Ann Huizar, had he not died in 2008.
In the press conference, Sheriff Mascara said, that in 1979 and 1980, he partnered with Patrol Deputy Harrison, and he reported to his supervisor in 1980, that he felt that Harrison had conducted inappropriate relationships with young adults, not sexual relationships, he said, but he felt they were inappropriate. "My supervisor told me, because he was a preacher," said Sheriff Mascara, "that he was spiritually mentoring children at risk and teens at risk. As I look back...I wonder if he was using his authority as a deputy sheriff, and his standing as a preacher in the community, to go ahead and violate children during the entire course of his life."
At the time Lora was reported missing, Deputy Harrison reported he'd seen the girl walking near her home. Harrison also took the statements of two witnesses who discovered Lora's body and sent them home, twenty minutes before other law enforcement personnel arrived on the scene. The area, on or near Okeechobe Rd. in Fort Pierce, FL, was within or near Harrison's patrol route. The key in solving this case, said Detective Taylor, came when he interviewed the witnesses, close to 39 years after the crime had been committed, and learned that the information described by Harrison in his report differed greatly from what the witnesses said in their interviews, and no one had ever interviewed them during the original investigation.
Taylor said Harrison's report of his findings had been accepted as factual. Original detectives who worked the case told Taylor that they believed Harrison when he claimed that the witnesses told him they were driving through the grove and saw the body. These same witnesses told cold case Detective Taylor they'd found Lora's body face up in a grassy area, although it was reported by Harrison, in 1983, that Lora was found face down in a drainage ditch. During the initial investigation, detectives did not link Harrison to the crime, they never inerviewed the witnessses who found the body, and no suspects were developed. Detectives assumed the crime had been committed by a vagrant, although the girl was seen at a nearby gas station, only about 600 yards away from her home. Deputy Harrison had reported seeing the girl within sight of the mailbox of her home at the time she was reported missing, which placed Harrison in the location where Lora had been abducted around the time she'd been abducted, which was brought forth in the press conference. Lora's family was concerned when she didn't arrive home, so they reported to the SLCSO that she was missing, and rode bicycles around the area, searching for her.
In 2021, DNA testing was conducted from Lora's sexual assault kit, and when the results showed a man's DNA, cold case detectives obtained a warrant and exhumed Harrison's body, but a DNA comparison was not possible because the DNA had degraded over time.
Taylor said, of the day he spent speaking to Lora's family about the case, informing them that Harrison had committed the crime, "That day was my best day in law enforcement, and it was also my worst day, because I'm standing there, in front of the victim's family, and I'm telling them this, that one of our deputies is the one that did it. It's rough. It is. It's hard to say, and it's hard to say now. I wish it could have been somebody else. I wish it would have been somebody else, you know, some dirtbag that does this all the time, but I had to follow the evidence, and it led to him, unfortunately."
A picture of Lora hangs in Detective Taylor's office. Taylor said his only child, a son, died from suicide five years ago, and one night, he had a dream about his son in which he was screaming at him, screaming his name, saying, "I found her," and he also saw Lora standing there in his dream. She said to him, "Keep digging." He said he pulled Lora's photo from the file, wrote her name on it and also wrote, "Keep digging."
Harrison worked at ten law enforcement agencies (listed below) between 1960 and 1984, and during that time, he was the pastor of two churches. At the time Lora was killed, Harrison was the pastor of a church that is currently Bethel Bapist Church, which is not affiliated with the church of the past. Everywhere he worked, Harrison was known by the nickname of "Pastor." Harrison's employment was terminated with the SLCSO, around 1984, when he was accused of sexually molesting two juveniles from his church.
THERE MAY BE OTHER VICTIMS WITHIN NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA
Since Harrison was known to exhibit inappropriate behavior toward juveniles, detectives feel that he may have committed other crimes against juveniles in areas where he lived, worked or pastored, so the SLCSO is developing a profile on Harrison, which will be sent to all law enforcement agencies within the state. Taylor said that Harrison's DNA profile is in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database. Those with information regarding similar crimes in areas where Harrison has lived, worked or pastored are encouraged to contact the SLCSO Criminal Investigation Division with information at 772-462-32301 or Crime Stoppers at 800-273-8477 (if you wish to remain anonymous). These are the agencies where Harrison was employed during his law enforcement career:
Brooksville Police Department in Brooksville, Florida
Edgewood Police Department in Edgewood, Florida
Glades County Sheriff's Office in Moore Haven, Florida
Groveland Police Department in Groveland, Florida
Hernando County Sheriff's Office in Brooksville, Florida
Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office in Okeechobee, Florida
Okeechobee Police Department in Okeechobee, Florida
Orange County Sheriff's Office in Orlando, Florida
Osceola County Sheriff's Office in Kissimmee, Florida
St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office in Fort Pierce, Florida
Taylor said that Harrison is buried in Ocoee, Floida, that he died of cancer. According to his obituary, Harrison lived in Okichobee, Florida at the time of his death, he died on June 2, 2008 in Deland, Florida at the age of 73, so he would have been about 48 years-old at the time Lora was killed. His obituary stated that he was in law enforcement for 25 years before retiring, that he was predeceased by his wife, and had two children and three grandchildren.
View the press conference here: https://www.facebook.com/stluciesheriff/videos/1338382983343216.