Father Found Guilty Over Death of His Toddler Son He Left in Hot Car

A father has been found guilty of murder for leaving his 22-month-old son to die in a hot car two years ago.

After 21 hours of deliberation in more than four days, the jury said that they found 35-year-old father, Justin Ross Harris, guilty on all eight counts which had been set against him, including leaving his son, Cooper to die in a hot car back in 2014.

Police said that Mr Harris and his son ate breakfast at a Chick-fil-A on the morning of June 18, 2014. Instead of taking his son to a company-owned day care centre after their meal, Mr Harris drove a short distance to his job as a Home Depot web developer in Marietta, Georgia in the US. He parked his car and locked the doors, windows up, with his son still inside, strapped to his child safety seat on the car’s rear seat.

Expert witnesses for the prosecution said that temperatures inside the car approached 120°F or over 48°C.

Cooper died of hyperthermia during the seven hours Mr Harris worked inside his office.

Prosecutors argued Cooper’s death was deliberate and intentional. The court heard from police and crime scene investigators that Cooper was already soaked in sweat and unresponsive as Mr Harris drove away from his office after work.

Mr Harris was charged with malice murder, two counts of felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children, and second-degree cruelty to children.

Investigators doubted Mr Harris’ claim that son’s death was a tragic accident of lapsed memory, but said he may have wanted the toddler out of his life to allow him to continue having extramarital affairs.

In addition to the malice murder charge, Mr Harris was also convicted of felony murder for killing his son while committing first degree cruelty to children. He was further convicted of sexual exploitation of children. Prosecutors charged that he sent explicit, detailed verbal descriptions and narrative accounts of sexual excitement and sexual conduct to underage women.

Prosecution evidence showed Mr Harris ‘sexted’ other women constantly, up to and including the day his son died — and even exchanged texts with another woman while his son struggled to breathe in the summer heat.

Mr Harris will be sentenced on December 5.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk