John Hardee sentenced for Harley Williams bathtub murder

Oct 11, 2023

John Tucker Hardee, Harley Williams (images via 13 News Now screengrabs)

John Tucker must go to prison.

The previously convicted child abuser who knew from the start that he was "going to prison," as evidenced by a frantic text message saying so, was sentenced Friday to nearly four decades behind bars for the hot bathtub water murder of his live-in girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter.

John Tucker Hardee, 38, on April 23, 2018, placed Harley Williams into scalding bathtub water and left her there, severely burned the victim's skin, and then texted the girl's mother to come home from work when he began to realize what he’d done. Despite the obvious seriousness of the situation, the couple subjected Harley to a painful, torturous death instead of immediately taking the toddler to the hospital, the Office of the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney said.

Prosecutors said that Hardee and Shelby Rae Love, 28, medicated the toddler in various ways and did not call 911 until the early morning hours of April 24.

"Mr. Hardee was home alone with Harley while Ms. Love was at work on April 23, 2018. At some point that afternoon, Harley was scalded and suffered third-degree burns to 30 percent of her body, mostly to her back, extremities, and left ear. Mr. Hardee texted Ms. Love around 4:30 p.m. urging her to leave work, and she arrived home around 5:20 p.m," prosecutors said. "Upon her arrival, Mr. Hardee claimed Harley was burned because the bathtub water was too hot. Ms. Love did not believe the burns were significant so, rather than take Harley to the hospital, the pair attempted to medicate Harley with a combination of Tylenol, gauze, Pedialyte, lidocaine and apple cider vinegar for the rest of the night. Around 3:30 a.m. on April 24, 2018, Mr. Hardee called 911 when he noticed Harley was unresponsive, shaking and having trouble breathing."

By then, it was far too late to save Harley's life. The victim had a seizure and it was clear to first responders that the girl's severely burned skin was peeling off, prosecutors said. Further investigation revealed that the victim was not just burned. She was beaten, and she had "toxic" level of lidocaine in her system.

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"Harley's autopsy also revealed blunt force injuries throughout her body, including a 7-inch contusion to the back of her head and a large bruise to her abdomen accompanied by an internal injury to her small intestine," prosecutors said.

At the time of the murder, John Tucker Hardee was on probation following a conviction in 2014 for beating his own son and strangling another woman in a Virginia Beach case.

John Tucker Hardee, Shelby Rae Love (Norfolk Police)

Although Hardee was charged and convicted at a July 2022 bench trial as the primary abuser in Harley's murder, Shelby Rae Love will face sentencing of her own on June 23 for child abuse or neglect and felony homicide stemming from her decision not to get help. Love pleaded guilty to those charges.

Judge John R. Doyle III on Friday sentenced defendant Hardee guilty to a total of 45 years, with 10 of those years suspended, for second-degree murder, child abuse or neglect, and malicious wounding.

In short, Hardee was sentenced to 35 years in prison, plus 10 years of supervised probation should he ever be released. If he were to be released from prison and violated that probation by, for example, contacting a minor, the suspended 10 years would kick in.

Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi said that this child murder case ranks among the "most depraved" he's seen.

"The violence John Hardee inflicted on little Harley – the burns he forced her to suffer and the ‘treatment’ of her injuries that was worse than torture – is one of the most depraved I have seen in my career. Little Harley lived her last hours in agony. Had she gotten medical help, she might have lived. Instead, she suffered, and she died. Mr. Hardee has earned his sentence," he said. "We will remember Harley."

13 News Now covered the case in-depth and explored how the system failed Harley Williams by allowing her to remain in the care of a dangerous convicted felon with a history of domestic violence.

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Matt Naham is the Senior A.M. Editor of Law&Crime.