Nocomus Harris, a 47-year-old man, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder in the 2023 stabbing death of his fiancée, Carlotta Wilson.
On Wednesday, a jury also found Harris guilty of tampering with evidence in connection with the crime. Wilson, who was babysitting a friend’s child at the time, was found dead in her Parkway Village apartment. Her brother discovered her lying face down in a pool of blood in the bedroom, with a brown belt around her neck and a laceration to her neck.
Police investigators uncovered key evidence, including a folding knife found in the toilet of an adjoining bathroom and bloody clothes matching those worn by Harris earlier that day. The one-year-old child Wilson was caring for at the time was unharmed, found in another bedroom.
Authorities later discovered Wilson’s wrecked car in Dyer County, and traced a Dyersburg address to Harris. In court, one of Wilson’s friends, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed relief, saying the verdict brought closure to Wilson’s loved ones. “He can’t hurt another person ever again,” the friend said.
Harris, who has a criminal record dating back to 1997, had been arrested in 2010 for domestic assault, spending 24 days in jail. Wilson’s brother, who lived in the same apartment, stated that the couple had frequent fights, and his sister often complained of physical abuse. On the day of her death, Wilson and Harris were reportedly fighting.
Harris received an automatic life sentence for first-degree murder. On May 9, the court will decide whether the tampering with evidence charge will run consecutively or concurrently with his life sentence.
