Family Is Mourned Amid Call for Mercy on Suspect

A slain family of three was buried Friday after a priest urged mourners to support a life sentence rather than the death penalty for their suspected killer.

Michael and Rebecca Hargon and their 4-year-old son, James Patrick, were buried in a cemetery outside a rural Methodist church near where they lived. The three vanished on Valentine’s Day and were found dead Monday.

Michael’s 43-year-old cousin, Earnest Lee Hargon, has been charged with murder. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.

Before the burial, Father Dan Hirtz spoke during a funeral Mass at a Roman Catholic church that Rebecca Hargon attended.

“I ask you, I ask the state in your name, not to continue the cycle of violence with the killing of [Earnest Lee] Hargon, but give him many, many years to repent of this violence and this loss of his own freedom,” Hirtz said.

Diane Hargon, Michael Hargon’s mother, has disavowed any relation to the suspect, who was adopted. “He may have the name of Hargon, but no Hargon blood runs through his veins,” she said.

After the service at the Catholic church, hundreds of friends and family members drove several miles to the Methodist church in Vaughan that Michael Hargon attended.

During the service, church members stood at the church’s door to pass out black-and-white pamphlets that included a picture of the Hargons.

“This is such a tragedy. Their life was cut short,” said Elaine McWilliams, a friend of Michael Hargon’s family.

Bullet casings and blood were found at the Hargons’ home, and the family’s bodies were found Monday in a wooded area about 100 miles away in southeastern Mississippi.

Michael Hargon was fatally shot, apparently while still in the house, and his wife and son were strangled later, autopsy reports said.