Syracuse, N.Y. — The mother of 5-year-old Nefertiti “Neffy” Harris and her then-boyfriend will be tried separately for their alleged roles in the child’s death and the subsequent months-long cover-up.

Latasha Mott, Neffy’s mother, is accused of beating her daughter to death with a belt in a shower at 127 West Beard Ave. on Jan. 6, 2024, police have said. Mott is charged with second-degree murder.

Days later, Mott and Corrice Parks hid Neffy’s body in a field on Syracuse’s East Side, police have said. Mott and Parks are charged with concealment of a human corpse. Parks is also charged with first-degree hindering prosecution.

On Tuesday, Judge Matthew Doran ruled that the cases should go to trial separately after attorneys for Mott and Parks had argued for months that they would have an

See Full Page