Justin Ross Harris Sexting 6 Women While Son Died of Hyperthermia, Detective Testifies; Harris Could Face Death Penalty
Justin Ross Harris, the Georgia father of a young boy left in a hot car, was allegedly sexting six different women while his son slowly died of hyperthermia in the vehicle, prosecutors allege. Harris will face a grand jury after a judge ruled that there was enough evidence for a jury to hear the case.
Harris is charged with felony murder and child cruelty after son Cooper was found dead in his car seat after spending nearly seven hours in the hot vehicle. Yesterday, when Harris appeared before a judge, Detective Phil Stoddard testified that Harris did not act right when police finally arrived at the scene of the incident.
Police obtained search warrants for his home and office and discovered that not only was Harris sexting at least six different women, including one young lady of 16 or 17, but he had conducted various searches that seemed to point to premeditated murder. Harris had visited websites that showed videos and photos of people dying. He also searched "how to survive in prison" and "age of consent for Georgia." Harris maintained that Cooper had fallen asleep in his car seat and he had forgotten the boy was in the vehicle. There was footage, though, of Harris returning to his vehicle at least once to put something in the front seat.
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Witnesses for the defense testified that Harris was a loving father who was incredibly proud of his son and would never have harmed him. They also argued that Harris should be granted bail because he was not a risk to anyone, but the judge denied that request.
"For him to enter the car … when the child had been dead and rigor mortis had set in, and the testimony is the stretch in the car was overwhelming at that point in time, that he – in spite of that – got in the car and drove it for some distance before he took any action to check on the welfare of his child, I find there is probable cause for the two charges contained in the warrant," Judge Frank Cox told the court in his ruling.
The case now moves to a jury, who will decide if Harris is guilty or not. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty.
