Bio

Ambrose Harris was born on May 9, 1952. Before the murder of Kristin Huggins, Harris had already spent many years in prison. He was released shortly before the 1992 crime after serving approximately 13 years. Court and news records describe him as a repeat offender with a history of violent criminal conduct.

At the time of the murder, Harris was living in New Jersey. He was later described in court as a persistent offender and, before receiving the death sentence, was already serving a life sentence with a 30-year parole bar for an unrelated 1993 armed robbery conviction.

Murder Story

On December 17, 1992, 22-year-old Kristin Huggins left her parents’ home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and traveled to Trenton, New Jersey. She was a graphic artist and had gone to the Trenton Club to work on a mural. That same morning, Ambrose Harris decided to commit a robbery and recruited Gloria Dunn to help him. Harris saw Huggins drive her red Toyota into the parking lot and targeted her.

Harris forced Huggins into her car and drove away with Dunn inside the vehicle. He later took Huggins to a deserted area under a bridge near Route 1 and Perry Street. There, he forced her into the trunk of the car. Harris drove around with Huggins locked in the trunk for hours. He eventually returned to the secluded area, removed her from the trunk, sexually assaulted her, and shot her in the back of the head. He hid her body under a mattress and left to get a shovel.

When Harris returned, he shot Huggins again in the face to make sure she was dead. He and Dunn then buried her body in a shallow grave. Huggins remained missing until February 18, 1993. Dunn contacted police while pretending to be a psychic who could help locate the missing woman. Her story quickly fell apart, and she confessed to her role in the crime. She led investigators to Huggins’ remains and later testified against Harris.

On February 20, 1996, Harris was convicted of murder, felony murder, kidnapping, robbery, aggravated sexual assault, weapons offenses, and theft-related charges. He was sentenced to death on March 2, 1996. In September 1999, while on New Jersey’s death row, Harris killed fellow death-row inmate Robert “Mudman” Simon by beating and stomping him during a prison fight. Harris was charged in Simon’s death, but in 2001 a jury found that he had acted in self-defense and acquitted him of murder and manslaughter.

In December 2007, New Jersey abolished the death penalty. Governor Jon Corzine commuted the sentences of the state’s eight death-row inmates, including Ambrose Harris, to life imprisonment without parole. Ambrose Harris died at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton on November 17, 2020. He was 68 years old.