KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Editor's Note: Violent crime is not routine, and it is not just a statistic. Behind every victim is a family and a community, and WBIR wants to make sure the people who fall victim to it are not forgotten. More than a Number is a series meant to share their stories and highlight their humanity.
Sherwin J. Harris was shot and killed on Valentine's Day in 2024 in an East Knoxville lounge, according to the Knoxville Police Department. The shooter fled the scene and was arrested two months later in Detroit.
His daughter, Maedaysia Rodgers, said she grew up going to the fair with her dad.
"We go go-karting, eating," said Rodgers. "He was a big teddy bear, he would give you a big kiss on the cheek if you were a lady and his beard would poke your face."
His daughter describes his personality as loveable and fun.
Harris was known as "Tane" by his family, and she said that he held them together. He was killed days after blowing out his birthday candles, celebrating as he turned 50 years old. Rodgers said a week before the shooting, she was with him for his birthday dinner. It was the last time she saw him.
"So now my pops gone so it's just me and my grandma and the kids," said Rodgers. "That was the last time I saw him alive and well ... He had just gotten a passport and he was going on a cruise."
Rodgers said she would often joke about his age, poking fun that he was getting old.
"I kept calling him an old man because he's bald," Rodgers said.
Rodgers is now creating the same memories with her son that her dad once did with her.
"So I can tell my kids how good of a person he was and how my dad was," she said.