Niki Davis’ “perfect life” turned upside down on July 20. That’s when the man she describes as her soul mate, the man her 10-year-old son called dad, turned a gun on her and her 16-year-old niece, who was living with them, and then on himself. She is still in shock over what happened, and over her loss. “I loved him. He was the love of my life,” she said her blue eyes welling with tears.


SUBMITTED PHOTO
Pictured left Rev. Bob McCreary sits in the van to be auctioned at the Niki Davis benefit on Oct. 18. Davis is recovering at her parents Holton home after the shooting tragedy.


Niki is not angry or bitter, revengeful or pitiful. She is sad. She misses him. She also misses Carlin, her niece. And she misses her life as she knew it. Niki, 33, is from Holton, one of five children of Cindy and Wayne Vansodol. She attended South Ripley schools in the late ‘90s. She met Robert Harmon through work. He became her boyfriend, and she and her children lived with him for over five years.

The petite mother has come home after this tragedy to be loved and cared for by her family, her church, the Holton Christian Church, and her community. With scars from ear-to-ear, a swollen jaw, and a mouth she can barely open, she is determined to go forward. Those are the physical challenges, but the emotional scars will take much longer to heal. She is adamant, “I do not want this shooting to define me or my two kids. I want to be happy, and I want my kids to be happy.”

The Holton Christian Church is putting love into action, embracing the little girl the 60 or so members watched grow up, to help her once again be self-sufficient and independent. They have organized a benefit on Oct. 18 to show Niki her hometown support. (See related story in today"s The Versailles Republican. Pick up a copy at your local newsstand.)

Her story
Robert Harmon, 48, never raised a hand to her, never called her a name. Yet Niki doesn’t know why he used two guns and shot her four times, three in the head, nor does she understand why he shot Carlin, her niece she had guardianship over and who had lived with them for over a year and was just four days from getting her driver’s permit. “That’s why I don’t feel it was really Robert. He never showed any violence to me,” Niki said. She realizes it’s a miracle she is alive.

The murder-suicide happened in Trimble County, Ky., just over the bridge in Madison and not far from her hometown of Holton. It stunned the community where Robert Harmon grew up. He was a prominent businessman, a vice president of a North Vernon industry. The two lived in his well-kept, brick, two-story home with her two children, Kaylee Hill, 14 and Andrew Harmon-Dobbs, 10, and Carlin. He treated her children as his own, she said. Andrew called him dad. “We were close. Carlin completed our family…I lived a wonderful life. I had a great man. I had great kids. I had the perfect life.” She acknowledges they had some relationship issues: He could be insecure and controlling but nothing of recent that would trigger this type of reaction, Niki said. Her own family loved and respected him, she said. They were there the night before the criminal act, making plans for the family reunion. Niki acknowledged he had over 100 guns, but was always respectful of their power.

That night
Niki was asleep on the couch and Carlin on the recliner, after watching a movie together. She saw and heard him shoot himself, but didn’t know she was shot. “I stood up. I felt something was wrong. I remember looking at Robert. He wasn’t dead. I layed beside him. I was so shocked. I remember seeing his face…and watching him suffer.” She adds, “Some people said he must have snapped; that he lost it. I don’t know.”

Unable to talk because of her facial injuries, she pounded on the kitchen wall and her teenage daughter came downstairs. She immediately went into action, grabbed a sheet to make a tourniquet around her neck, and called 911. Niki is amazed at her daughter’s focus. Kaylee told her later she knew what to do by watching “Grey’s Anatomy. “ The ambulance came 20 minutes later, and that was when Robert took his last breath. She did not know then that Carlin was fatally shot.

Niki was conscious, despite suffering a stroke in between gunshots. She knew the paramedic, Will McCoy. “He and Kaylee saved my life. I told him I was going to die in front of my daughter and he promised me I wouldn’t. He kept me conscious. He didn’t leave my side. He was my guardian angel,” she said. There was something more powerful in that ambulance than fancy equipment and trained professionals. She cries at the memory, “ I had lost so much faith in God when my sister (Kathleen Davis) died 10 years ago (of cancer), but I had never felt the power of God’s love in my life. I did then. Somehow I knew I was going to be okay. I had this sigh of relief. I knew I was going to go back to my kids.“

A tracheotomy was performed so she could breathe. She was put in a medically induced coma for several days. Surgeons worked long to replace her jaw with titanium. She can’t open her mouth large enough to see her teeth, Niki believes it’s a miracle she is alive, that one bullet just missed her spine. The doctors were wonderful, she says, and said one doctor cried when she returned for a follow up visit because she didn’t think she would live. “They saved me. God had their hands.”

Recovery
Family is everything. That’s one thing she is reminded over and over. Her sister Linda Vansodol never left her side at the hospital, and she has been there to remove her bandages, puree her food, drive her wherever she needed to be for the past 2½ months. Linda had the paperwork for Medicaid the day after she was admitted. Niki is beyond grateful and cries just thinking of her love. “I never knew I was so loved. From the people in Bedford to Holton. Of course you expect your parents to love you, but to give up things just for me and my kids. And, my sister. I can’t say enough.”

The kids are enrolled at Jac-Cen-Del, and doing better than she expected despite the trauma. Kaylee doesn’t like to talk about it, but Andrew does. He slept through the act. “He couldn’t grasp it was Robert. He said ‘mom it wasn’t Robert. That wasn’t my dad.”

They have yet to retrieve their personal belongings, and they left that early morning without shoes on their feet. It may be sometime before they can get items due to legal issues. Meanwhile, Niki has forgiven Robert. “I felt I had so much love and the love of God has let me forgive him. I know what he did was wrong, but like Andrew said, that wasn’t Robert. There’s no way.” The physical healing is underway, but the emotional part will take longer. She wishes she could take away her kids’ loss of Carlin, who Niki describes as “remarkable” and loved by so many people in Kentucky, Cincinnati and Holton. Everyday she looks in the mirror the scars remind her of another life.

She is grateful to her church and members for their warm welcome back. “The elders just hugged me and opened their arms to me,” she said. Rev. Bob McCreary said he is impressed with Niki when she returned to church, not looking like the person they remembered. “We were blown away by the courage of Niki to do that.” One of the good things that has resulted from the tragedy is she knows now that God never left her side and that her kids are feeling the love of God and church. Her kids willingly come to church, open up their Bibles and sing church songs. The church wants to help her, hence the benefit. And, whether they raise $1,000 or $100,000, McCreary knows it will take more than things to heal the young woman and her family. “This is a marathon. This is not something that will be fixed tomorrow. Keeping God at the center of your life will be the key to finding peace.”

It took a tragedy for Niki to understand that, but with the support of her family and church, and God’s love, she and her family begin the long road to healing.