Mom, Dad Beat 4-Year-Old To Death At Somerset Hotel: Affidavit

FRANKLIN, NJ — The mother and father of a 4-year-old beat their son to death with six other children present at a hotel in Somerset, according to new details released in police documents to Patch.

Chamyr Harris, 26, of Linden, and Sean Tate, 36, of Woodbridge, were both recently charged with first-degree murder and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child of their biological son.

An Affidavit of Probable Cause obtained by Patch for Harris shows that not only did the father beat the boy but so did the mother.

"A total of six other children were present in the living room during the time of the incident. Four of those children were brought to the [Somerset County Prosecutor's Office] Child Advocacy Center for forensic interviews and disclosed that Tate and Harris had physically beaten John Doe," according to the affidavit.

A Search Warrant of Room 231 was conducted by members of SCPO and Franklin Police on Feb. 20, 2024. As a result of the search, various items were collected as evidence, according to the affidavit.

The four-year-old's body was sent to the Medical Examiner's office. On Feb. 5, 2025, the medical examiner ruled the cause of death for the victim was "homicidal violence with the manner of death being homicide."

Autopsy

"The report indicates there were numerous hemorrhages and hematomas to the top of John Doe's skull, wounds - both healing and otherwise - on John Doe's forehead, eye region, ear region, neck, torso, and extremities," according to police documents.

Additionally, in the boy's oral cavity, "there was a large tear and abrasions consistent with smothering, as well as bruising to the tongue and blood within the oral cavity."

The report also stated the boy "suffered from extreme weight loss and muscle wasting, and he had a distended large intestine and rectum with an abundant amount of stool in both the large intestine and rectum - with hemorrhages to both the large intestine and rectum."

Boy's Death

At around 3:24 p.m. on Feb. 19, 2024, Franklin Township Police went to Home Wood Suites Hotel in Somerset, for the report of an unresponsive 4-year-old male child.

Police found the boy in the rear master bedroom along with his father, Sean Tate.

Chamyr Harris, Tate's girlfriend and the mother of the boy, told officers that the last time she saw the boy alive was two hours earlier, according to the report.

Tate said that his son had fallen off a toilet two days prior.

The boy was brought to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital New Brunswick and pronounced dead at 5:24 p.m. that same day.

The boy "weighed 24 pounds and appeared emaciated with various injuries all over his body including a large injury to his head, a firm stomach and prolapsed rectum," according to the report.

On the following da,y police spoke with the boy's parents Sean Tate and Chamyr Harris.

Tate said his son hit his head on an AC unit days before him falling off the toilet and that the injury on the boy's head was visible and turned black. Tate said he iced it before going to bed around 7 a.m. on Feb. 19, 2024, according to the report.

Tate said when he woke up at around 1:30 to 2 p.m. that same day, he learned from Harris that the boy was unresponsive prompting him to contact 911, according to the report.

On Feb. 18, 2025, Tate was arrested in Woodbridge without incident. Tate was lodged in the Somerset County Jail pending a detention hearing on this matter which remains an ongoing investigation.

On Feb. 25, Harris was arrested and was lodged in the Somerset County Jail pending a detention hearing on this matter which remains an ongoing investigation.

Anyone with information relating to this homicide is asked to contact the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit at 908-231-7100 or the Franklin Township Police Department at 732-873-5533 or via the STOPit app. The STOPit app allows citizens to provide anonymous reports including videos and photos. STOPit can be downloaded to your smart phone for free at the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, access code: SOMERSETNJ.

Information can also be provided through the Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477). All anonymous STOPit reports and Crime Stopper tips will be confidential.

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