GA - Suspicion over heat death of Cooper, 22 mo., Cobb County, June 2014, #1

[JeannaT]

I don't discount that it was some kind of "mistake," , but I also think there is something seriously wrong with either the brain, parental instincts or priorities of someone who could forget about their child for that length of time, particularly given the "memory-jogger" of going out to the last place you saw your child a few hours later! I'm sorry he felt so desperate or so perfect that he had to lie, but if you allow these incidents to to go unpunished it becomes the perfect "excuse" for someone who WANTS to get rid of a child.

I agree - this would be a perfect way for someone who wants to kill their child. Usually, though, people who know the person immediately begin to realize it was purposeful - a serious custody battle, continuing to say if they didn't have the baby they would be in a better place, researching adopting the baby out, etc.

In this case, no one is saying that who knows him.

I think this is a dad who has hyper focus on work issues (as techies often do) and can switch one part of the brain off to focus on another. This is not a guy whose day care/no day care experience in the morning continuously crosses his mind.

Sad, sad.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

I am starting to wonder if this was an accident. Perhaps LE feels that Harris showed an extreme carelessness. He had an opportunity to realize his son was in the car, but did not. Felony murder means that Cooper died during commission of a felony; the child cruelty charge. If he put his son in the car purposely to kill him, he would be charged with 1st degree murder.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

I agree - this would be a perfect way for someone who wants to kill their child. Usually, though, people who know the person immediately begin to realize it was purposeful - a serious custody battle, continuing to say if they didn't have the baby they would be in a better place, researching adopting the baby out, etc.

In this case, no one is saying that who knows him.

I think this is a dad who has hyper focus on work issues (as techies often do) and can switch one part of the brain off to focus on another. This is not a guy whose day care/no day care experience in the morning continuously crosses his mind.

Sad, sad.

It sounds like they are able to catch those who leave the child in the car intentionally so I disagree that it is the perfect way to murder your child:

Since 1998, a total of 582 children have fallen victim to heat stroke after being left inside cars. Just over half of those fatalities were caused by caregivers forgetting the kids in the car.
In 18 per cent of the instances, the children were deliberately locked inside cars.

 

[Violet1820]

Now knowing about the stop for breakfast, I wonder if the child did choke in the morning and passed away. Perhaps RH left CM in the car not knowing what to do, or in denial/shock. I am in no means defending RH. If this is the case, he should have rushed to the hospital right away.

 

[Judicious1]

So the child was in a rear facing seat in the center of the backseat, and Ross accessed the drivers side door and opened it and accessed the drivers seat.

I think you'd have a hard time convincing a jury - especially with filmed re-enactment that he could possibly see Cooper was back there.

If this is all they have, they have nothing that says he purposely left this child in the car.

That the problem with rear facing.,, without a mirror on headrest it is very hard to tell. I'm looking at mine as we speak. My baby is sleeping and you can't tell from passenger seat or even rear driver seat side back door. Only passenger seat back door. Seat behind passenger seat

 

[blue22]

I am starting to wonder if this was an accident. Perhaps LE feels that Harris showed an extreme carelessness. He had an opportunity to realize his son was in the car, but did not. Felony murder means that Cooper died during commission of a felony; the child cruelty charge. If he put his son in the car purposely to kill him, he would be charged with 1st degree murder.

Legally, cases of extreme neglect and carelessness often lead to various levels of murder charges.

I don't really care at this point if it was purposeful, or not. It's becoming clear (to me, and JMO) that this situation was extremely neglectful and resulted in the death of a child. I think charges are appropriate.

 

[JeannaT]

It sounds like they are able to catch those who leave the child in the car intentionally so I disagree that it is the perfect way to murder your child:

I think people admit sometimes they deliberately locked the child in the car - they were running into the store, etc. That statistic was posted very early in this thread, and I took it to mean the parent was completely ignorant of the danger of locking their child in a car - the way people foolishly lock their dogs in and the dogs perish. Sad.

 

[blue22]

What could this mean?

"Harris, 33, has been charged with felony murder and previously was charged with cruelty to children in the first degree. The cruelty to children charge was later downgraded to second degree, implying that investigators do not believe there was criminal intent."

from http://www.ajc.com/news/news/breaking-news/cops-cobb-toddlers-death-investigation-continues-t/ngRfn/

I really think that just means that they don't believe he premeditated. Perhaps, someone with more legal knowledge can chime in, though.

 

[Sunshine95]

If I did this correctly, it takes 3- 5 minutes, depending on traffic. The taste of chik fil a would still be in his mouth, why not the child on his mind? Glad LE are investigating.

http://www.mapquest.com/?le=t&s=name%3AFast+Food&vs=#b29c2dbbf236ac1330d10858

 

[JeannaT]

That the problem with rear facing.,, without a mirror on headrest it is very hard to tell. I'm looking at mine as we speak. My baby is sleeping and you can't tell from passenger seat or even rear driver seat side back door. Only passenger seat back door. Seat behind passenger seat

I agree that rear-facing seems dangerous for a variety of reason - but apparently the physics in a car crash dictate rear facing.

After a couple months I always faced my kids forward. You can have great interactions with the kids when you see them in the mirror and they see you. I would think that facing backwards would also lead to many more cases of carsickness.

 

[rob]

But if he thought he dropped his child off at daycare, is it possible that he only saw the seat, and assumed Cooper wasn't in it, if it was rear-facing?

Do you rear-face a two yr old? I thought that was only for infants. But I'm old and things have changed.

OK, I just read the article and it says the seat was rear-facing. Who knew? I can no longer handle small children, I don't know all the rules.

 

[Karmady]

So he remembered to feed Cooper, drove a short distance to work, immediatly forgot about just feeding both of them, went to his car at noon, nothing jogs his memory. Not buying it.:twocents:

To me, the fact that he took him to breakfast makes it less likely that he intended to kill him. jmo

 

[gngr~snap]

http://www.11alive.com/story/news/l...ed-for-dad-charged-in-hot-car-death/11349985/

All posts are my opinion only. Sent via Tapatalk

 

[katinva]

Do we know the child was alive at breakfast? He could have ordered for both of them and ate it or threw it away. Stopping that close to work and then forgetting does make it worse, if this was an accident. Like someone said....you would still taste the food. If the child ate then it wasnt that he was asleep in the 5 mins to work.

 

[blue22]

To me, the fact that he took him to breakfast makes it less likely that he intended to kill him. jmo

IMO, it makes it more likely that he was extremely negligent and remembered about his son when he went to his car...and then did nothing.

I think as of now, pending what evidence they found in the warrants, the charges seem appropriate.

 

[popsicle]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/231277625/Justin-Ross-Harris-Warrant-for-Death-of-Toddler
warrant

 

[blue22]

Do we know the child was alive at breakfast? He could have ordered for both of them and ate it or threw it away. Stopping that close to work and then forgetting does make it worse, if this was an accident. Like someone said....you would still taste the food. If the child ate then it wasnt that he was asleep in the 5 mins to work.

"The warrant states Harris did place his son, Cooper, into a rear facing car seat after eating breakfast with his son at the Chick-fil-a on Cumberland Boulevard. Harris left his son in the car when he entered his workplace."

That suggests they actually ate inside of the restaurant and he then put his son in the car-seat after.

ETA: I don't know why that didn't link. It's from the article one or two posts above.

 

[rob]

There is no love in the obit. His first name was Master? http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/tu...r-cooper-mills-harris&pid=171475366&fhid=8345

In the south, in the old days, people referred to young boys as 'master' and little girls as 'miss'. I haven't heard the term 'master' used in years.

 

[JeannaT]

Do we know the child was alive at breakfast? He could have ordered for both of them and ate it or threw it away. Stopping that close to work and then forgetting does make it worse, if this was an accident. Like someone said....you would still taste the food. If the child ate then it wasnt that he was asleep in the 5 mins to work.

That makes it more believable for me. He was out of routine. (I guess, maybe he stopped there every day though).

Being out of routine is what makes this happen. Had he not stopped for breakfast, but rather, went his usual straight to daycare instead, it seems highly unlikely he would have gotten off-track.

This happens when there is a kink in the routine. I was surprised learning yesterday that Ross took the baby every morning to daycare - that's very routine - and then there's this stopping for breakfast thing that came to light.

Out of sight, out of mind. Sad phrase at this point.

 

[popsicle]

"The warrant states Harris did place his son, Cooper, into a rear facing car seat after eating breakfast with his son at the Chick-fil-a on Cumberland Boulevard. Harris left his son in the car when he entered his workplace."

That suggests they actually ate inside of the restaurant and he then put his son in the car-seat after.

ETA: I don't know why that didn't link. It's from the article one or two posts above.

Also, the cars eat was centered in the rear seat. Not behind the driver or passenger seat.