Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø

Lloyd Alfred Harris, 43, was convicted Thursday of fatally shooting his older brother, John Q. Harris, and two dogs during an encounter at a northwest Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø home the afternoon of July 30, 2022.

Harris pleaded no contest to charges of second-degree murder, use of a firearm and two counts of cruelty to an animal involving the deaths of his brother’s dogs.

At the time, Lloyd Harris was living in a Hershberger Road home owned by John Harris, with the understanding that he pay rent and take care of the pets, according to Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney John McNeil.

John Harris, who was from Asheville, North Carolina, had travelled to the house the day he died to bring food for his dogs — a shepherd mix named Sasha and a mixed breed named Lucian — and check on their well-being, McNeil said.

After being called to the home in the 800 block of Hershberger, police found John Harris and one of the dogs dead. The second dog died after being taken to emergency veterinarian care. Lloyd Harris was arrested a short time later and has been in custody since.

The likely motive for the killing is contained in court records detailing Lloyd Harris’s mental health and treatment for schizophrenia.

Harris told a psychologist that he believed his mother and brother were not actually his family members, and that they were trying to take his possessions and damage his reputation as part of “one big lie,� according to court records.

The belief was likely “a delusional element of psychosis known as Capgras Syndrome, wherein an individual believes that others (usually family or friend) have been replaced by imposters (usually) harboring nefarious motives,� psychologist Natalie Armstrong wrote in a March 2024 report of her evaluation of Harris.

At the time of the shootings, plans were underway for Harris’s mother to move into the home.

“Lloyd Harris apparently felt as if he was being pushed out of the house and this led to a great deal of animosity on his part,� McNeil wrote in an email. “This was likely exacerbated by his mental health struggles, which ultimately led to the violence on July 30, 2022.�

Harris appeared in Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø Circuit Court Thursday after being held at Catawba Hospital during a lengthy effort to evaluate his competency to stand trial and determine his mental state at the time of the killings.

Assistant Public Defender Brian Barnett requested the evaluation in September 2022, writing in court records that he had concerns about his client’s ability to understand the charges and court procedures.

Harris was eventually found competent — but not until a judge authorized doctors at Catawba Hospital to force him to take antipsychotic medication. Such forced treatment is constitutionally permissible for the sake of returning a defendant to competency, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2003.

During his conversations with Armstrong, Harris claimed that he was 96 years old and that he had a cojoined twin who was surgically removed from him.

“He also made grandiose claims that he was trained as a doctor and was also a lawyer, and that he had been shot by a U.S. President,� the psychologist wrote in her report. But over time, she wrote, his continued treatment at Catawba was expected to restore his ability to stand trial.

On Tuesday, McNeil said the 17-year prison term for Harris that was part of a plea agreement was within the range called for by state sentencing guidelines, and that it was “reflective of his documented mental health issues.�

Barnett could not be reached for comment.

The agreement, accepted by Judge Chris Clemens, set a total sentence of 27 years for four felony offenses, to be suspended after Harris serves 17 years.