Priest urges peace as slain family buried Friday

CANTON, Miss. -- 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 United Methodist church near where they lived. The three were found dead Monday after they vanished on Valentine's Day.

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

Before the burial, the Rev. 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 Earnest Lee. "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 mass, 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 some time later, autopsy reports said.