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Today is Monday The 9th of December 2024

This Chapter is Closed.

On December 22nd 2007 Jarod Harding was taken from his family and the world. There will never be another soul quite like him and we will miss him dearly. There are many misconceptions about what happened that morning, However, the most important point that needs to be made is that Jarod was a Hero and saved the life of his older sister.

Cousin Giovanni (4yo) says; I am sorry he died, I will miss playing video games with him.

Cousin Amanda (10yo) says; I am sad that Jarod died and happy that Christi is alive

Cousin Max (13yo) is at a loss for words.

From the whole family: We love you Christi, you are in our hearts and minds.

This is a big loss for our family, especially at this time of year. Our hearts go out to our brother Chris. We request that everyone prays for the family at this most difficult of times.

This site was created to remind everyone of the victims of this tragedy only, so in answer to some questions: there will be no information about the attacker.

11/04/11 Final Update: On November 3, 2011 Martina Harding acknowledged in court that she committed aggrivated murder upon her son Jarod Harding. She was sentanced to 22 years in prison of which she must serve 85 percent before release and then 5 years probation. This ends a heartwrenching time for our family. Jarod will never be brought back to us, and we pray Christie is safe, happy and healthy. We hold no malice for Martina as we forgave her long ago shortly after Jarods death. We wish that she comes to God if she has not already. God, who is looking after Jarod for us, is the only one who can give her peace and we truely wish her peace. We can never know what happened in that house that day, nor the days, months and years preceding that day. However we know that God loves us all and sent his only son to die for us on the cross to cover our sins. Jarod will always live in our hearts and we pray that through his life and death that others will find God and receive his gift of eternal life.
Soon this page will move from the front of this site to its own section. This site was originally to be a place for our children(Jarods cousins) to do their own thing and will become that. Jarod will never be forgotten and will continue to be a part of this site.

8/15/11 Update: Over Three years have passed by. Still no definate word on justice for Jarod. There is however news of Christie, We were informed that Christie has been adopted. We pray for her happiness in her new home and that she knows how much we all love her. We and her Grandmother miss her and DYFS has not allowed us to contact her for years. Hopefully her new family will love and protect her and do what is best for her in all things.

1/13/10 Update: Two years have quickly passed by. It seems that not much has been accomplished and Jarod's voice has yet to be heard. There is however, a beautiful marker at Jarod's grave. Christie is still in DYFS care. From what we have heard she is doing very well and blossoming in the foster family's care. We pray that she knows how much we all love her. We do not know for sure when the trial will be held in order for Jarod's last words to be heard. We greatly miss Jarod, and at this time of year his loss is felt more acutely. Giovanni, being the age of Jarod when he was taken from us is a carefree and yet stark reminder of what our family lost that day. We still hear from people regarding the loss of Jarod. We do appreciate hearing from others any words of encouragement. We consider it a blessing when we do hear positive words from others. Please feel free to contact us and express your feelings.

12/23/08 Update: A year has passed and we thank the Lord that there have been no major crises this year. We (the whole family, not just us.) have had our share of life challenges this year and things have not been roses. However, things are and have been looking up. We mourn the anniversary of Jarod’s passing as we also celebrate his life. One of the thoughts that we hold dear is this one. We know that he is in heaven playing with his Uncle Jimmy whom we lost in 2001. Jimmy loved his nieces and nephews and they all loved him. This Christmas season as we celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must remember that while they are no longer with us we will see them in Heaven. They are there now, sitting at Jesus’ feet, and if i know my brother Jimmy, they are watching movies and laughing about all the little things we let bother us everyday. We love you Jarod and Jimmy, we miss you.

1/26/08 Update: The changes to the site are at the request of DYFS and in the interest of Christi’s safety and security.

1/11/08 Update: Sorry everyone but I must apologize to everyone including my brother because I goofed. While experimenting with the site and the guestbook (with which I am not very familiar) I wound up having to re-install it from scratch. To all that this inconvenienced. I hope that you will forgive me.

1/1/08 Update: We wish to thank all the people who attended Jarod’s funeral as well as those who chose not to attend in respect of the family. It was a difficult day and we appreciated all of the heartfelt sentiments expressed. We were comforted to be surrounded by family and friends and those who chose to attend.

12/29/07 Update: We will be updating again after the funeral on Monday. However we wish to thank the generous people helping with the funeral. Abbott Florist and Bravo Florist, National Park Army Navy Garrison No. 52 and McGuinness Funeral Home. We greatly appreciate the help we have received from them and many others. Once again the funeral will be Monday the 31st at 9:00am. The viewing will be until 11:30am at which time there will be a service. All are welcome to attend.

12/27/07 Update: There was a fund set up at Commerce Bank for the family, if you would like to make a donation simply go into any Commerce BanK and tell them that you would like to make a donation to the Jarod Harding Memorial Fund.

12/26/07 Update: The funeral for our Hero Jarod will be on New Years Eve, Monday 12/31/2007. The Viewing will be at 9:00am and is open to all who would like to attend. There will be a short service afterward at 11:30am. The burial will be close family only.

McGuinness Funeral Home
34 Hunter St.
Woodbury, NJ 08096
(856) 845-0888

Chris and the whole family is waiting to be reunited with Christi. My family (Carol-Ann, me(Rolf), Max, Amanda and Giovanni) are going to celebrate Christmas tomorrow. We are going to remember Jarod in our hearts and wish that Christi were with us. We are not going to let the assailant win and take the joy of Christmas away from the children. Christmas is about the miraculous gift and birth of Jesus and we all need to remember that, in this time of sorrow.

We want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas by saying:

‘Happy Birthday Jesus!’

It is comforting knowing a living Jesus in this world.

Come back for continued updates.

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