Brigitte Harris (born June 6, 1981) is an American woman from Queens, New York, who was convicted of manslaughter in the killing and castration of her father, Eric Goodridge, in her Rockaway apartment.
[3] After several years of estrangement from her father, Harris was contacted by her sister, Carleen Goodridge, who claimed that Eric wanted to talk to them.
When Harris arrived, she saw one of her nieces sitting on Eric's lap, leading to an argument with Carleen considering his past abuse of the sisters when they were children.
[3] Carleen hired defense attorney Arthur L. Aidala to represent Harris,[2] who subsequently told him about the sexual abuse she and her sister suffered by Eric.
[7] After being discharged from the psychiatric ward on August 16, 2007, Harris was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter[8] and was held at Rikers Island.
[1] Harris, who had referred to herself as "Lady Vengeance" and "The Original Dark Angel" on her MySpace page,[8] claimed that she had not intended to kill her father.
"[10] Despite jury letters, Queens Supreme Court Judge Arthur Cooperman sentenced Harris to the maximum of five to fifteen years in prison.
Harris has reiterated that she did not intend to kill her father, and expressed a desire to work with the advocacy group STEPS to End Family Violence when she was released from prison.