A murder charge was filed Thursday against a former Bell city councilman who’s accused of shooting his 81-year-old wife at their home.
Danny Lee Harber, 76, pleaded not guilty in a Downey courtroom to the murder charge, which includes an allegation that he used a handgun, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Harber allegedly shot his wife in the upper body in the early morning hours Tuesday at their home in the 4900 block of Weik Avenue. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and her husband was arrested just after 7 a.m., according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Juanita Navarro-Suarez.
Donna Harber had suffered from mental health issues, including dementia, former Bell Councilwoman Violeta Alvarez told NBC4.
Her husband, who served on the Bell City Council from 2011 to 2013, is jailed in lieu of $2 million bail.
He is set to make his next court appearance Sept. 18 in Norwalk, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against him to proceed to trial.
He could face a potential maximum 50-year-to-life state prison sentence if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
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