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| “ | We haven't been properly introduced. The name's King. We should get together sometime when circumstances are more conducive. You fill in the blanks. | „ |
| ~ Harris hitting on Medical Examiner Melinda Warner as she tries to take his DNA |
Malik "King" Harris is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Rooftop". He is a suave, charismatic serial killer who preys on teenage girls.
He was portrayed by Asio Highsmith.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Harris is a sexual predator and serial killer who preys on adolescent girls between the ages of 13 and 15, using his charm to win their trust before he rapes and murders them. His rage and misogyny boil over into violence when his victims do or say something that challenges his fragile ego and toxic sense of masculinity, whether they intended to or not.
In 1994, he was questioned about the rape of a 13-year-old girl named Vanessa Hiltz but released for lack of evidence, he raped and murdered two girls. He claimed three more victims before he was hit by a car, breaking both of his legs. He was out of commission for three years while he recovered from the accident, living with his sister in Detroit.
Upon regaining the ability to walk, he moved to New York City and resumed his killing spree. He claimed to be a record producer, but this was mostly a ruse to pick up women. He would later exploit these women by getting them hooked on cocaine and heroin so they would sleep with him and pay his bills in return for feeding their addictions; he also partakes in the drugs.
"Rooftop"[]
Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit investigate Harris' murder spree, at first believing it to be the work of recently paroled sex offender Leon Tate. Stabler had also investigated a series of rapes Harris committed before his accident which had gone unsolved for years, and mistakenly believes that Tate is guilty of those, as well. When another victim is found who was killed hours after Tate died of a heroin overdose, however, they realize that the real killer is still at large.
Harris' murders become increasingly brutal as the investigation goes on. He sets 14-year-old Aisha Thompson on fire after raping her and throws her off a roof to her death. SVU Detective Fin Tutuola, a family friend of Aisha's, becomes obsessed with finding her killer.
Fortunately, one of Harris' victims, who survived his assault, comes forward and tells Benson and Stabler that her rapist, who called himself "Andre", had lured her by promising to get her a record deal. This leads Fin and his partner, Detective John Munch, to question Harris, who was seen with Aisha right before her death. He denies knowing her, but he raises Tutuola's suspicions with his arrogance and abusive treatment of the woman he is currently sleeping with. Tutuola manages to persuade Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot to get him an arrest warrant for Harris based on circumstantial evidence, and he arrests him for murder and drug possession right in the middle of a "recording session" with a teenage girl.
During his interrogation, Harris refuses to donate a blood sample, claiming to be a Jehovah's Witness, and winks at and harasses Medical Examiner Melinda Warner as she attempts to take a DNA swab. Tutuola improvises by "accidentally" breaking Harris' sunglasses and taking them to be analyzed. The DNA from the sunglasses turns out to be a perfect match to that left at the site of Aisha's murder, as well as six others.
However, Harris' lawyer successfully argues in court that the police violated his privacy by taking his sunglasses without permission, although he is unable to make the drug charges go away. During Harris' arraignment on the latter charges, Aisha's older brother Rodney attacks him, prompting Harris to bite him. Tutuola breaks up the fight, but he takes a sample of Harris' DNA from Rodney's arm and gives it to Cabot so she can prove that Harris committed the murders. It is implied by Cabot, Harris, and Conrad that Tutuola told Rodney to attack King in order to entrap him, although he denies it.
Cabot, Stabler, and Tutuola confront Harris in jail, telling him there is enough DNA evidence of his crimes in Detroit and New York to ensure that he gets the death penalty. Harris says that he wants to make a deal for a plea bargain, but Tutuola coldly replies that the only "deal" he will get for his crimes is Tutuola bringing his last meal before his execution.
Harris is then presumably convicted of several rape and murder charges and executed.
Trivia[]
- Harris is inspired by multiple real-life criminals:
- Arohn Kee a.k.a. "The East Harlem Rapist", a serial rapist and murderer of women and girls in the region after which he's nicknamed, later arrested as a fugitive after he kidnapped a teenage girl.
- Moses Sithole a.k.a. "The ABC Killer", a South African serial rapist and murderer who left a suspect, David Selepe, shot dead by police.
- Alfred Gaynor, a serial killer of women who was attacked with a chair by Eric Downs, the son of one of his victims.
- Wayne Williams, a prime suspect in the Atlanta child murders who was convicted on charges of killing two adult men.
External links[]
- Malik Harris on the Law & Order Wiki
