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Thread: Cooper Harris (22 months), left by father to die in a hot car after his father researched the time it takes for a dog to die in a hot car

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    Senior Member animosity's Avatar
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    Cooper Harris (22 months), left by father to die in a hot car after his father researched the time it takes for a dog to die in a hot car

    Source: Police find search on hot car deadliness on computer in Georgia case

    (CNN) -- As police in Georgia investigated the death of a 22-month-old boy left seven hours in a sweltering SUV, they seized computers from the father's office, a source with knowledge of the investigation told HLN's Nancy Grace.

    The officers found something startling: an Internet search for "how long does it take for an animal to die in a hot car," the source said.

    It's unknown when the Internet search was conducted and whether the father did the searching. Police have declined comment when asked about the computer search.

    The father, Justin Ross Harris, was charged with murder and second-degree child cruelty. Police in Cobb County, just outside Atlanta, have been tight-lipped and haven't said if what they found on the computer is one of the reasons they arrested Harris.

    'What have I done?'

    Initially, police seemed sympathetic, describing the death of Cooper Harris on June 18 as the result of tragic absentmindedness.

    They said the dad had apparently forgotten the boy was in the back seat of his Hyundai Tucson; he didn't remember until he was done with his work day, drove a couple of miles, and pulled into a shopping center parking lot.

    But police became suspicious as they investigated.

    "The chain of events that occurred in this case does not point toward simple negligence and evidence will be presented to support this allegation," said Cobb County Police Chief John House.

    A criminal warrant released Wednesday described the events that led to Cooper's death.

    A timeline of events

    On the day Cooper died, June 18, Harris stopped for breakfast at a fast-food restaurant and afterward strapped his son into a rear-facing child restraint seat on his SUV's backseat, police said.

    He drove to his workplace, a Home Depot corporate office, about a half-mile away. He works as a Web designer there.

    Normally, he would take his son to an on-site day care. But that day, police said, Harris left him in the car seat.

    During his lunch break, he returned to his car, opening the driver's side door to put something inside, police said.

    After work, around 4:16 p.m., the 33-year-old father got in his car and drove away. A few miles away, he stopped the car at a shopping center and called for help.

    When it became clear Cooper was dead, Harris was so inconsolable police had to restrain him.

    "What have I done?" he wailed as he tried to resuscitate the little boy.

    Harris has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and second-degree child cruelty. He sits in jail without bond, with an appearance before a judge scheduled for July 3.

    A wave of sympathy

    Each year, dozens of children die from heat strokes in cars, according to KidsandCars.org. More than 40 died last year.

    The organization believes its tally is incomplete and much lower than the real toll.

    When police charged Harris, it triggered a wave of sympathy and a vigorous debate over whether the heartbroken father should be punished.

    A change.org petition that was started urging authorities to release Harris was withdrawn Thursday, with this note explaning: "I think that based on the recent developments this petition is no longer relevant. I still pray that this was truly an accident. If that is the case, the DA now knows that the community does not want Justin prosecuted on murder charges."

    Atlanta area resident Erin Krans started a second change.org petition asking prosecutors to drop the charges. It has garnered hundreds of signatures and was still operational as of 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

    Another, set up at YouCaring.com, has raised more than $22,000 for the Harris family.

    "Please don't listen to the media. It just upsets me to watch it," wrote Heather McCullar, who set it up. "Please don't listen to the media. The family will speak when they can."

    Contacted by CNN via e-mail, she wrote back, "No one is allowed to comment right now."

    His wife's not talking

    As Harris sits in jail, his wife, Leanna, would not discuss the case with the media. Harris' attorney has not returned repeated calls from CNN.

    The child's cause of death was "consistent with hyperthermia and the investigative information suggests the manner of death is homicide," the Cobb County Medical Examiner's Office said, according to a Cobb County Department of Public Safety release issued Wednesday. Temperatures hit 92 degrees Fahrenheit on the day of his death.

    The medical examiner's office is waiting for toxicology test results before making an official ruling as to the cause and manner of the toddler's death.

    Cooper's funeral, meanwhile, will be held Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

    http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/26/justic...toddler-death/
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    Senior Member animosity's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by songbirdsong View Post
    "Say, you know who could handle this penis? MY MOTHER."

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    Senior Member songbirdsong's Avatar
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    Ugh. So "opening the driver's side door to put something inside" = "opening the driver's side door to see if your son is dead yet." I would be very curious to hear if anyone noticed him acting strangely after his lunch break. Unfuckingbelievable. On one hand you hope the mom isn't involved. On the other hand you hope she is, because that would be one less mother agonizing over how she's going to live each day without her baby.

    People suck.
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    Just as I suspected. A ring of elderly pedophiles.
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    Fucking piece of shit, fucking scum, internet ass holes. fucking ingrate no life having fat ass. you have no fucking clue at whats going on fuck tard shit for brains.

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    Scoopski Potatoes Nic B's Avatar
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    I was reading about this earlier this week. I wonder what other evidence points to this being intentional? I read in one article that they are now looking at the mother. Wonder if they think this is a joint idea of theirs? A comment by someone on the article said something about maybe this kid was abused, possibly died from some sort of abuse, and they did this to try to cover it up.


    Quote Originally Posted by marakisses View Post
    yes i said i will leave it under you storage he said cuddle with me i said shut up it over??? what am i doing wrong??
    Quote Originally Posted by curiouscat View Post
    Happy Birthday! I hid a dead body in your backyard to celebrate. Good luck finding it under the cement. You can only use a stick to look for it.

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    Senior Member animosity's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by songbirdsong View Post
    Ugh. So "opening the driver's side door to put something inside" = "opening the driver's side door to see if your son is dead yet." I would be very curious to hear if anyone noticed him acting strangely after his lunch break. Unfuckingbelievable. On one hand you hope the mom isn't involved. On the other hand you hope she is, because that would be one less mother agonizing over how she's going to live each day without her baby.

    People suck.
    i've also been reading that witnesses at the scene said he was acting strangely once he 'discovered' his son, claiming that the kid was choking, and that's why he stopped. he went through periods of frenzy followed by total calm. witnesses say that the kid was obviously long dead - his color was off and when he was pulled out of the car seat, his legs were locked into a seated position.

    he managed to forget his kid was there in the 3 minutes it took him to get from breakfast with his son to work.

    there was over 10,000 people signing a petition to release him when the story broke but change.org pulled the petition when the news of the google search came up. btw: i go around with my dog all over the place and have never felt the need to find out if i could leave her in a car for x amount of time.

    they have also raised 22,000 buck for the funeral and his legal defense. i have concluded that much of the human race is ridiculously stupid and strangely enough, these same people have money to blow frivolously. i am really sick of people jumping at the chance to sign stupid petitions and donate to fraudulent charities as soon as they hear a sad story.

    good tip i heard of: keep a stuffed animal in the car seat when the child is not with you and buckle it in to the front seat when the kid is in the car.
    Quote Originally Posted by songbirdsong View Post
    "Say, you know who could handle this penis? MY MOTHER."

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    Scoopski Potatoes Nic B's Avatar
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    I started dating my husband when his youngest son was 2, and never once did I forget I had him in the car because I'm a smoker who loves to smoke while driving, but obviously can't when I had him in the car. So in turn, never forgot he was in the car.


    Quote Originally Posted by marakisses View Post
    yes i said i will leave it under you storage he said cuddle with me i said shut up it over??? what am i doing wrong??
    Quote Originally Posted by curiouscat View Post
    Happy Birthday! I hid a dead body in your backyard to celebrate. Good luck finding it under the cement. You can only use a stick to look for it.

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    Senior Member animosity's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nic B View Post
    I started dating my husband when his youngest son was 2, and never once did I forget I had him in the car because I'm a smoker who loves to smoke while driving, but obviously can't when I had him in the car. So in turn, never forgot he was in the car.
    pro tip: become a smoker after having children... you may save a life!
    Quote Originally Posted by songbirdsong View Post
    "Say, you know who could handle this penis? MY MOTHER."

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    Senior Member animosity's Avatar
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    dbl. rip cooper.
    Last edited by animosity; 06-27-2014 at 01:28 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by songbirdsong View Post
    "Say, you know who could handle this penis? MY MOTHER."

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    Senior Member TupeloHoney's Avatar
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    I came here to make a thread for this, but I see that I don't need to.

    This case is a big deal around here right now. They originally charged him with felony child cruelty and felony murder, and many people were in an uproar because they thought that was too harsh and, at the most, he should have been charged with manslaughter. (I grew up in Cobb County so I wasn't particularly surprised about the harsh charges.)

    Anyway, they did drop the charges down to second degree about the same time all the details started coming out.

    And I haven't heard or read anything at all about the mom being involved.




    Also, to answer your question, Nic, the child was alive and well when they stopped for breakfast at Chick fil A, which is like a mile from his office. So he definitely wasn't already dead. And officials have said he died from hyperthermia.
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    Cousin Greg Angiebla's Avatar
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    It is possible to forget you have a kid in the car when they are infants because they are so quiet, and you still aren't used to dealing with them in your daily routine. My stepmother drove to work one day, and forgot to drop my stepsister off at daycare. As soon as she arrived to work and got her briefcase out of the back seat, she realized what she did.

    A 1+ year old child is a different story. They make noise when they move around and usually talk (or mumble) and laugh. I guess his son could have been sleeping, but I would like to know what he went to his car for on his lunch break.

    I also don't think the mother was involved, and I feel very badly for her.
    Last edited by Angiebla; 06-27-2014 at 01:47 PM.

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    Senior Member ShellJett's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Angiebla View Post
    It is possible to forget you have a kid in the car when they are infants because they are so quiet, and you still aren't used to dealing with them in your daily routine. My stepmother drove to work one day, and forgot to drop my stepsister off at daycare. As soon as she arrived to work and got her briefcase out of the back seat, she realized what she did.

    A 1+ year old child is a different story. They make noise when they move around and usually talk (or mumble) and laugh. I guess his son could have been sleeping, but I would like to know what he went to his car for on his lunch break.

    I also don't think the mother was involved, and I feel very badly for her.
    I think the mother went to Alabama where her family is, and the baby's funeral is going to be there. She hasn't spoken and reports are that LE told her not to. I read the obituary somewhere, and it includes accolades about how the mother and FATHER loved and protected Cooper. Strange.

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    Senior Member TupeloHoney's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TupeloHoney View Post
    I came here to make a thread for this, but I see that I don't need to.

    This case is a big deal around here right now. They originally charged him with felony child cruelty and felony murder, and many people were in an uproar because they thought that was too harsh and, at the most, he should have been charged with manslaughter. (I grew up in Cobb County so I wasn't particularly surprised about the harsh charges.)

    Anyway, they did drop the charges down to second degree about the same time all the details started coming out.

    And I haven't heard or read anything at all about the mom being involved.




    Also, to answer your question, Nic, the child was alive and well when they stopped for breakfast at Chick fil A, which is like a mile from his office. So he definitely wasn't already dead. And officials have said he died from hyperthermia.

    To clarify what I said about the original charges ... at first they charged him with first degree child cruelty, which automatically means the murder charge is first degree, irrespective of intent.
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    Scoopski Potatoes Nic B's Avatar
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    I guess I misread it, about the mother. Went back to find the article I had read about it, and all it says is this (I guess with the whole "mother" and "involvement" in the sentence I got the wrong impression...

    "We have been in communication with the mother throughout the investigation. At this time, I'm not at liberty to discuss her involvement. That's a part of the case our detectives are working on," Pierce said.

    http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/25/justic...toddler-death/


    Quote Originally Posted by marakisses View Post
    yes i said i will leave it under you storage he said cuddle with me i said shut up it over??? what am i doing wrong??
    Quote Originally Posted by curiouscat View Post
    Happy Birthday! I hid a dead body in your backyard to celebrate. Good luck finding it under the cement. You can only use a stick to look for it.

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    XoXo Miller22's Avatar
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    I was just looking for this article to come and post here. What a fucking idiot - and a sick bastard.

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    What do you care? Boston Babe 73's Avatar
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    Yeah. I have a hard time believing that:

    1. You JUST strapped him in and only drove a mile and within those few minutes forget he's there.
    2. You go to your car at lunch and don't notice him in the back seat.

    As for the search about dogs, I've even made that search to find a Meme to post on Facebook as a PSA. So I can't say that part is solid evidence. Besides, I think about all of the crap I've looked up being here at MDS. Imagine if that were "Evidence"

    This poor kid. Rest in Peace Cooper.
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    Senior Member animosity's Avatar
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    yeah... i guess it's just hard luck when you search: 'how to dismember a body' and soon after, pieces of your girlfriend start showing up all over the city.
    Quote Originally Posted by songbirdsong View Post
    "Say, you know who could handle this penis? MY MOTHER."

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    Senior Member nclexusgirl's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Boston Babe 73 View Post
    Yeah. I have a hard time believing that:

    1. You JUST strapped him in and only drove a mile and within those few minutes forget he's there.
    2. You go to your car at lunch and don't notice him in the back seat.

    As for the search about dogs, I've even made that search to find a Meme to post on Facebook as a PSA. So I can't say that part is solid evidence. Besides, I think about all of the crap I've looked up being here at MDS. Imagine if that were "Evidence"

    This poor kid. Rest in Peace Cooper.
    and...

    3. You take your kid to an ON SITE day care at your work, so it would be routine to take him out at work everyday

    He drove to his workplace, a Home Depot corporate office, about a half-mile away. He works as a Web designer there.

    Normally, he would take his son to an on-site day care. But that day, police said, Harris left him in the car seat.
    yeah, not buying his story.

    Quote Originally Posted by Angiebla View Post
    It is possible to forget you have a kid in the car when they are infants because they are so quiet, and you still aren't used to dealing with them in your daily routine. My stepmother drove to work one day, and forgot to drop my stepsister off at daycare. As soon as she arrived to work and got her briefcase out of the back seat, she realized what she did.
    I always put my purse in the back next to the car seat (regardless if the kids are in the car or not) so I am in the habit of looking in the back seat every time I get out of the car.
    I can be your *ADDICTION* if you wanna get hooked on something!!

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    Senior Member animosity's Avatar
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    very good point... everyone who is questioning this is quick to say that a change in routine can lead to this type of thing, but if you have a daycare through your work, of course you would take advantage of it. he must bring him there everyday so it's not like his wife usually does it.
    Quote Originally Posted by songbirdsong View Post
    "Say, you know who could handle this penis? MY MOTHER."

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    Senior Member songbirdsong's Avatar
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    This may sound callous, but who DOESN'T know that it just takes a few hours for a living thing to overheat in a hot car? The high in Atlanta (this was just outside of Atlanta apparently) on the 18th was 92 degrees. What a fucking idiot.

    If that web search is the ONE thing that ends up giving this away as a homicide vs. an accident, I'm glad that he's that fucking stupid. The thought that he or whoever planned this might otherwise have gotten away with it...that's just too much. How smug the perpetrator would have been, thinking they outsmarted everyone while their friends and family rally behind them and offer sympathy.

    Anyone who would do this in the first place deserves to be fucked horribly by such a stupid, obvious misstep on their part.
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    Senior Member TupeloHoney's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nclexusgirl View Post
    and...

    3. You take your kid to an ON SITE day care at your work, so it would be routine to take him out at work everyday



    yeah, not buying his story.



    I always put my purse in the back next to the car seat (regardless if the kids are in the car or not) so I am in the habit of looking in the back seat every time I get out of the car.


    The media (particularly CNN) has caused a lot of confusion about the on-site day care thing. The day care is in the main Home Depot headquarters building. This dude works in a different Home Depot office a couple of miles from main headquarters.

    Here's a timeline from the AJC that explains it:

    http://www.ajc.com/news/news/breakin...s-death/ngSSk/

    Compiled with information from police, arrest warrants and witness statements (some times are approximate):

    June 18, 8:30 a.m.: Ross Harris and his son, Cooper, leave the family's Marietta-area condo and head to Chick-fil-A for breakfast.

    8:55 a.m.: After eating, Harris puts the 22-month-old into his rear-facing car seat in the middle of the backseat of his 2011 Hyundai Tucson. Harris then drives less than a mile to the "Treehouse" Home Depot office, where he works. His son's daycare center is not located here, but is instead about 2 miles away at corporate headquarters.

    9 a.m.: Harris parks the SUV and goes in to work, leaving Cooper in the backseat.

    Lunchtime: The exact time has not been specified. But while taking a break from work, Harris walks out to his SUV, opens the driver's side door and puts something inside. It's not known what he put in the vehicle and whether he had any contact with the child.

    4:16 p.m.: Harris leaves his office, located at 2600 Cumberland Blvd., near Smyrna and Cumberland Mall. While driving from work to U.S. 41, Harris realizes his son is in medical distress, he later told police.

    4:23 p.m.: After driving about a mile, Harris turns onto Akers Mill Road and makes a right turn into the parking lot of a shopping center. He then makes an abrupt right turn, stops the SUV and quickly gets out, leaving the driver's side door open as he gets his son out of the car.

    4:24 p.m.: Witnesses at the shopping center watch as a frantic Harris tries to revive the boy, whose color is off and doesn't appear to be breathing. Harris is frantic and is screaming "What have I done? What have I done?" as bystanders start CPR on the boy, who is on the ground of the parking lot. Cooper's lifeless body is still in a sitting position, witnesses said. Police, already patrolling the area, and firefighters, arrive at the scene within seconds of a 911 call, believed to have been placed by Harris.

    4:58 p.m.: Cobb County police spokesman Officer Mike Bowman confirms the toddler has been pronounced dead. A crowd has gathered on the sidewalks of the shopping center. Harris, police later confirm, is now in handcuffs and in the back of a patrol car because he refuses to cooperate with officers. The SUV and child's body are soon part of a crime scene investigation, and Harris is driven away.

    5:45 p.m.: Just steps away from the little boy's body, Sgt. Dana Pierce tells reporters Harris told police he went to work, worked 7 hours, then left work and realized he had forgotten to take the child to daycare. Harris is taken to police headquarters for questioning, Pierce said.

    10 p.m.: Harris is arrested and charged with murder. He is booked into the Cobb County jail.





    It's weird to me that he ended up at Akers Mill ... he wouldn't be passing Akers Mill if he was heading home, but he wouldn't have ended up at Akers Mill if was en route from his office to the main office, either. He would have already passed the road on which he needed to turn to get to the day care.
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    Certified Grumple Bottoms Ron_NYC's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nic B View Post
    I was reading about this earlier this week. I wonder what other evidence points to this being intentional? I read in one article that they are now looking at the mother. Wonder if they think this is a joint idea of theirs? A comment by someone on the article said something about maybe this kid was abused, possibly died from some sort of abuse, and they did this to try to cover it up.
    The fact that you CANNOT forget a human fucking being in a car.

    HA! I knew it! I called this shit! It's nothing but homicide. NO ONE is that absent minded.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ron_NYC View Post
    The fact that you CANNOT forget a human fucking being in a car.

    HA! I knew it! I called this shit! It's nothing but homicide. NO ONE is that absent minded.
    I think we've had this conversation before. I think it's possible to be that absent minded under the correct conditions. But I don't think this man was.

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    Senior Member becoming's Avatar
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    I think you can forget anything if it's out of your ordinary routine. But this guy apparently took him to daycare every single morning, so yeah, not adding up... I mean, how do you just drive straight to work and never realize that you forgot to go to the place you go before work every single day?

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    What do you care? Boston Babe 73's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by becoming View Post
    I think you can forget anything if it's out of your ordinary routine. But this guy apparently took him to daycare every single morning, so yeah, not adding up... I mean, how do you just drive straight to work and never realize that you forgot to go to the place you go before work every single day?
    Right? If anything force of habit should make it the other way around. On the rare instance you DON'T have the child with you, you drive to the daycare and realize you didn't need to. Definitely doesn't make sense.
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    Senior Member TupeloHoney's Avatar
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    This newest article from the AJC explains where he was supposedly heading after work ... to meet friends. It also says more documents will be released tomorrow.


    http://www.ajc.com/news/news/warrant...deaths-/ngT29/


    Warrant: Cobb toddler's dad researched child deaths inside vehicles


    (June 28, 2014) After his toddler son died after being left inside an SUV for seven hours, a Cobb County man told police he had researched children dying in hot vehicles, court documents released Saturday morning state.

    Justin "Ross" Harris told police he feared his 22-month-old could be left inside a vehicle, according to search warrant affidavits obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But no information about the timing of Harris' online searches was released. And the questions that many across the country have been asking -- how did this happen and why -- remain unanswered.

    "During an interview with Justin, He stated that he recently researched, through the internet, child deaths inside vehicles and what temperature it needs to be for that to occur," search warrants state. "Justin stated that he was fearful that this could happen."


    The search warrant affidavits released Saturday offered the first new facts released in the death of the toddler, Cooper Mills Harris, since Wednesday. But the documents shed no details on what prompted police to arrest and charge Ross Harris with felonies so swiftly within hours of the boy's death.

    The latest documents revealed what and where investigators searched in the hours after Cooper was pronounced dead June 18 in a shopping center parking lot. The findings and evidence cited to arrest the boy's father were not released and may not be until a possible trial.

    By law, after applying for search warrants, investigators have 10 days to conduct the searches and return the application documents to Magistrate Court. The documents released Saturday were the first search warrant affidavits released in the boy's death.
    They were made public hours before Cooper's funeral in Alabama, scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at Tuscaloosa's University Church of Christ. The family is from Tuscaloosa.

    Cooper's death and his father's subsequent arrest have made national headlines, sparked by a sharply divided debate over whether the felony charges were appropriate. An online petition asking DA Vic Reynolds to drop the murder charge against Harris gained more than 11,000 supporters.

    That petition was closed after additional details, including results of an autopsy, were released Wednesday. The autopsy determined the manner of death was a homicide and the cause of death was hyperthermia, or overheating, Cobb police said Wednesday.

    The boy's death was not simple negligence, Chief John Houser said in a letter released to the media Wednesday.

    On the morning of June 18, Harris and his son left the family's condo and drove to a Vinings Chick-fil-A, where the two had breakfast, an arrest warrant released Wednesday states. The father then put his son back in a rear-facing car seat in the middle of the backseat and drove to work, less than a mile away, the warrant states.

    When Harris got to work at a nearby Home Depot corporate office shortly after 9 a.m., he left the toddler in the backseat and went inside the building, according to police. He returned to the SUV at lunchtime, when he opened the driver's side door and put something inside. Then, Harris went back inside to work, his warrant states.

    According to the documents released Saturday, Harris left work and was headed to meet friends about 4:20 p.m. June 18 when he said he realized his son was still in the backseat of the family's Hyundai Tucson. Witnesses reported seeing Harris drive into an Akers Mill Road parking lot, stop the car and pull the boy out of the backseat.

    "Oh my god what have I done," Harris screamed, according to witnesses. Harris placed the boy on the parking lot pavement and began to administer CPR on him as witnesses gathered and also tried to help revive Cooper.

    "When someone came to assist Justin he stopped providing medical attention to the child and started making calls on his cell phone," the affidavits states.

    But it was too late for Cooper, who was already dead. A distraught Harris was not cooperative with police, who handcuffed the father and put him in the back of a patrol car. Harris was taken to Cobb police headquarters for questioning, and within about five hours was arrested and charged with felony murder and child cruelty.

    While detectives were questioning Harris and later his wife, other investigators were examining the SUV, the family's condo near Marietta, a laptop and a cell phone, the search warrant applications state. The condo was also searched for papers, writings, documents, photographs and any other evidence related to the investigation, according to police. Leanna Harris was not charged and has not been named a suspect. The family has not spoken publicly since the toddler's death.

    There is no indication that police searched Harris' office during the first night of the investigation, but additional search warrants were later sought and granted, according to the Cobb County District Attorney's office. Additional documents are expected to be released Sunday morning.

    Harris is being held without bond at the Cobb County jail. His next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.
    Quote Originally Posted by Not your business View Post
    I will out think the fucking pants off of you and you would thank me for helping you out of them.

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