Bio

Maurice Lydell Harris was born in 1966. Prior to the events of August 1994, Harris accumulated a documented history within the justice system, specifically involving illicit narcotics. He had previously been convicted of large-scale drug trafficking and served a multi-year sentence inside a federal penitentiary.

Following his release from federal custody, Harris established connections within the automotive and drug trade in Southern California. He developed a business and personal relationship with Bernard Canto, an acquaintance who worked restoring and selling vehicles purchased from local auctions. 

By mid-1994, Harris was romantically involved with 23-year-old Alicia Allen, and the couple became engaged. Allen was 17 weeks pregnant with their child. Despite his impending family life, Harris remained deeply embedded in volatile financial disputes and illicit transactions.

Murder Story

On August 9, 1994, a financial conflict erupted between Harris and Bernard Canto involving a $1,500 debt. At approximately 8:30 p.m., Harris contacted Canto under the pretense of returning the funds, instructing Canto to meet him at a designated intersection in Gardena, California. When Canto arrived, Harris ambushed him, shooting him at close range outside an apartment complex. Canto survived the initial assault but required extensive hospitalization.

Roughly an hour after the confrontation with Canto, Harris traveled to the Marine Avenue residence that Canto shared with Alicia Allen. Harris forced entry into the home, restrained his fiancée by binding her hands behind her back with twine and socks, and shot her to death. Forensic evidence later revealed that Harris stripped Allen of her jewelry—including multiple rings, earrings, and a gold chain—and stole cash from the residence before fleeing the scene. 

The homicide resulted in the immediate deaths of both Allen and her 17-week-old fetus.Harris evaded law enforcement for over a month, hiding in a Los Angeles apartment belonging to an acquaintance named Regina Mills. During his evasion, Harris wore a long, curly wig to mask his appearance, limped heavily, and used a walking cane due to a severe leg injury matching a gunshot wound sustained during the initial shootout with Canto. 

Acting on investigative leads, police raided the apartment and arrested Harris on September 16, 1994. Ballistics testing confirmed that the firearm recovered during the investigation matched all projectiles fired at both crime scenes. While in jail, Harris placed recorded telephone calls threatening Mills's life for allegedly exposing his location to authorities.

During his 1996 trial, Harris chose to testify, offering a new defense strategy. He denied executing his fiancée and claimed he was a middleman caught in a fraudulent drug deal involving fake cocaine and two aggressive buyers from Chicago. The prosecution countered his narrative using the testimony of Mills—who received immunity for harboring a fugitive—and the preliminary hearing transcripts of Canto, who had been murdered in an unrelated incident in Chicago prior to the trial. 

The jury rejected Harris's claims, convicting him of two counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, burglary, and robbery. The jury further verified special circumstances of felony-murder robbery, felony-murder burglary, and multiple murder. On December 20, 1996, Harris received a sentence of death. On August 29, 2005, the California Supreme Court officially affirmed his conviction and death sentence. He remains incarcerated on death row within the California correctional system.