Sister reveals how sibling turned from bible-loving schoolgirl into killer mum who drowned daughter in ‘human sacrifice’

Carly Harris, 38, drowned her four-year-old daughter Amelia in the bath and then set fire to her body on a coffee table in the back garden of their home.

Carly denied the charges of manslaughter and murder brought against her for drowning her four-year-old daughter and burning her body.

Carly Ann Harris was a happy bible-loving schoolgirl “idolised” by her classmates.

But after dabbling in drink and drugs as a teenage rebel, she spiralled into a dark place which ended in the brutal “sacrifice” killing of her daughter.

Sister Tiffany Wright, 30, today told The Sun Online of the evil transformation she saw in the sibling she once played happily with at their childhood home.

Harris drowned her daughter Amelia, four, in the bath as a “human sacrifice” then burned her body on a coffee table in their back garden in Tonypandy, South Wales, on June 8.

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Carly Ann Harris was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity

The 38-year-old was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity on Monday after a jury was told she thought she was “instructed by angels” to kill her daughter in order to save the world.

Tiffany was the first person Harris called after the killing and is still haunted by seeing her beloved niece’s charred feet sticking out from under a white sheet when she raced to the scene.

Amelia, four, was drowned and her body burned by her mother in her home

In an exclusive interview, she revealed how her sister’s behaviour spiralled out of control as she entered her teenage years a short time after a family turmoil was played out to national headlines.

The sisters’ family was torn apart when Tiffany’s dad — Harris’ stepdad — Yusef Abdullahi was wrongly convicted of the notorious murder of Lynette White in Cardiff in 1988.

The former Jehovah’s Witness and bible group schoolgirl — who she once “idolised” — discovered drugs and alcohol and quickly “went off the rails”.

Despite being very bright, she stopped going to school — her attendance had already become increasingly sporadic — and she would stay out all night.

Sister Tiffany said her sister Carly Harris went off the rails in her teens

Tiffany said: “She was my older sister and I looked up to her. She was fun and we got on well, despite our age difference.

“(But) she started partying hard when she was 15 and it never stopped. Booze, cocaine, you name it, she used it — all the time. When she should have been at school, she was out with men in fast cars.”

But Tiffany stood by her and the pair remained close, always living within a 10-minute drive of each other.

When Harris had Amelia, Tiffany says she filled the gaps left by her sister’s partying.

She said: “(She) stayed with me four, maybe five nights a week.

“I was really close to Amelia. I treated her like she was my own daughter, really.

“Amelia had the kindest heart. She hated to see anyone unhappy. She was so full of love and always happy and smiling. I think she was the best kid that ever lived.

“But all Carly wanted to do was party. She was beyond wild.”

Harris denied her daughter’s murder and said angels had instructed her to do it.

The night before Amelia’s death, Harris had taken her daughter to Tiffany’s flat around four miles away in Tonyrefail.

Harris drank two cans of Fosters while dancing and singing Paramore songs before telling little Amelia it was time to go home.

Tiffany said: “There was no sign whatsoever that anything was wrong.

“As she left, she said to me: ‘I’m really proud of you, Tiff. Now, say goodbye to Amelia.’ I didn’t think much of it at the time but now it makes me shudder.”

Within 24 hours, Amelia was dead, drowned in the bath and then set alight in the back garden.

Harris phoned Tiffany while stood next to her daughter’s charred remains and later told her: “If everything goes wrong, I’ll be going to prison for a very long time.”

“I cannot get the sight of that poor girl out of my head. I could see just her feet sticking out from under the blanket and they were charred,” Tiffany said.

“None of it made sense. We’d all been together the night before and everything was fine.”

Newport Crown Court heard Harris thought she had been instructed by angels to sacrifice her daughter Amelia

Tiffany refuses to accept the word of doctors who told Harris’ trial that she had been suffering from paranoid schizophrenia in the weeks before Amelia’s killing.

It is said she suffered from schizophrenia following a urinary tract infection in 2014.

Tiffany said: “I don’t for one second believe she was hearing voices or even insane in the truest sense.

“She certainly never behaved in any way insane before that night.

“I’d say she was more sane than anyone I know. She’s a good actor and she’s smart.”

Tiffany also revealed how she believes her sister’s actions may have been sparked by the miscarriage of justice which tore their family apart in the late 1980s.

Tiffany’s dad — Harris’ stepdad — Yusef Abdullahi was wrongly convicted of the notorious murder of prostitute Lynette White in Cardiff in 1988.

Lynette was stabbed more than 50 times in a crime which shocked the nation and Yusef spent two years behind bars before the conviction was quashed in 1992.

The toddler’s death shocked the community. Heartbreaking tributes were left at the scene

The last time Tiffany spoke to Harris was two weeks after the killing when Harris phoned her at home late one evening to tell her she was sitting on her bed in a psychiatric hospital eating a jerk chicken takeaway.

She said: “I couldn’t believe it.

“She said she had an ensuite bathroom and large TV on the wall.

“It is sick. She should be behind bars for the rest of her days, not scoffing jerk chicken in a comfy room with TV and ensuite.

“Sure, it wouldn’t bring Amelia back but it might go some way to giving that little girl some justice.

“Where is the justice in this for Amelia? She has died for nothing.”

Tiffany described her sister (pictured right) as a party-lover who showed no signs of illness

HARRIS’ STEPDAD

Harris was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order after jurors returned the “special verdict”.

Dr Arden Tomison, a psychiatrist, diagnosed Harris with schizophrenia and said at the time she was suffering from an “abnormality of mental function which substantially impaired her ability to form a rational judgement”.

Harris denied murder and manslaughter and jurors took an hour to find her not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Picken said he was imposing a hospital order and restriction order without limit of time.

He said: “This is a deeply sad case in circumstances where you have killed your four-year-old daughter Amelia at your house which you shared with her.

“These facts speak for themselves. A young girl rich in promise met her death at the hands of her own mother in the most horrific manner.”

Speaking outside court earlier this week, Harris’ mother Jacquie Harris, said: “It’s bittersweet. I am devastated beyond words.

“I lost Amelia and I lost Carly. I have lost my life. I’ve gone beyond tears.”

Mrs Harris added: “She is not a monster. She is the salt of the earth.”

This article originally appeared in The Sunand was republished with permission.