GA - Suspicion over heat death of Cooper, 22 mo., Cobb County, June 2014, #13

[gngr~snap]

But, but, but, he had dreams of Cooper with Jesus. That is one dream I NEVER had and I gave birth to a 1lb 13oz baby. Not once did I dream her dead.
Maybe other people have had a dead child dream. I dunno.
I have had dreams that my son fell off a balcony because he would not listen, but that woke me up so...

All posts are MOO. Sent via Insignia Flex Tablet.

 

[TorisMom003]

Was the 4:04 call to LH ever confirmed? It would make sense if he called his friends (around 3:45, my memory sucks and I'm too lazy to look up the exact time)saying he'd be late because he hadn't heard from LH and thought he might have to pick up CH himself until she was done working. If he finally talked to her at 4:04 and she said she'd be able to make it on time (maybe they had to get him by 5:00 according to their contract?), he left about 10 minutes later. I know it's a lot of ifs and maybes, but it could have happened - couldn't it?

I'm not sure why Harris would need to pick up Cooper from day care if Leanna was going to be late picking Cooper up. Harris had already made plans for 5 pm. He would need to get to the movies before then. I doubt that day care for Home Depot closes at 5 pm so Cooper could have stayed at day care until Leanna picked him up. Leanna was to pick up Cooper at 4:45 pm. I would think, as most parents do it, that she would have called Harris if she was going to be late. But then it appears that he never told her he was going to the movies with friends either so perhaps they are a couple that just doesn't communicate with one another about anything that happens in their day.

MOO

 

[tlcya]

Was the 4:04 call to LH ever confirmed? It would make sense if he called his friends (around 3:45, my memory sucks and I'm too lazy to look up the exact time)saying he'd be late because he hadn't heard from LH and thought he might have to pick up CH himself until she was done working. If he finally talked to her at 4:04 and she said she'd be able to make it on time (maybe they had to get him by 5:00 according to their contract?), he left about 10 minutes later. I know it's a lot of ifs and maybes, but it could have happened - couldn't it?

But does that mean RH "thinks" he dropped Cooper off at daycare to begin with or that he thinks his wife did so? Because that is where I get lost in this little narrative of the day.

 

[Karmady]

I don't understand how anyone inadvertently unintentionally blows through a red light. That's a choice, and it's against the law. If you killed a pedestrian or another driver as a result, I think you would at least face manslaughter charges.

BTW I'm not a DP advocate and in your scenario I think life would be extreme, so that's not what I mean when I refer to holding negligent parents accountable.

If you can't understand that, I can definitely understand how you can't understand forgetting your kid in a car seat. I don't know how to explain it other than to say the stop light doesn't even register. It's most definitely not a choice. When I've done it and realized I've done it (by the blaring of horns!) it totally freaked me out. As I mentioned, so many people have told me of doing exactly the same thing. It happens --- a lot.

 

[Karmady]

I'm not sure why Harris would need to pick up Cooper from day care if Leanna was going to be late picking Cooper up. Harris had already made plans for 5 pm. He would need to get to the movies before then. I doubt that day care for Home Depot closes at 5 pm so Cooper could have stayed at day care until Leanna picked him up. Leanna was to pick up Cooper at 4:45 pm. I would think, as most parents do it, that she would have called Harris if she was going to be late. But then it appears that he never told her he was going to the movies with friends either so perhaps they are a couple that just doesn't communicate with one another about anything that happens in their day.

MOO

He would probably have just been making sure she was going to make it "in time" with work and traffic (which is horrible in Atlanta) and, if not, he'd either be late to the movie or get Cooper himself. Based on Stoddard's testimony that they picked up a roughly equal number of times in the nine days prior, they may not have had a plan etched in stone every day.

 

[popsicle]

Does anyone remember anything in any of the warrents where Harris says that he "had a false memory of taking Cooper to day care that day" or anything like that? Did he say anything like that to LE? Or did he just say that he "forgot" to take Cooper to day care because he "forgot" that Cooper was in the car?

He has never, ever stated to LE that he thought he took Cooper to daycare. He has always stated that he forgot to take Cooper to daycare per everything that has been released and spoken by LE.

 

[dlkutac]

But there is a big difference between being careless/negligent, and doing something on purpose, even if end results are the same. That is what a jury will need to determine, if intent is a factor in the charges. If it was intentional, the punishment should be that of first-degree murder. But I don't really understand the charges right now...will have to see how it plays out. I do feel negligent does not= on purpose, as far as what punishment should be though. Negligent to me is unintentional but "stupid" and careless, like not having things properly stowed away that are harmful to children, i.e and a child dies. Yes, the parent is to blame, but they did not plan to kill the child. Big difference if there was intent and a plan.

Jmo

This case will have to take this one step further. What was the basis for the negligence. The defense is absolutely going to have to defend the act of forgetting in such a short time frame. There is no way that his obsession with sexting can be used as a defense, so I am interested as to what the reason will be. Normally, as mentioned earlier, if the parent is distracted by an unselfish act, like something traumatic or multiple important events happening all at once, the punishment for the negligence is relaxed or forgotten. Seems to me the defense is between a rock and a hard place here, especially since JRH told the detective there was nothing unusual going on at the time he forgot.

 

[Karmady]

Which one did you say you already checked?

should have said I checked the youtubes in the media thread. There may be others on there I haven't seen.

 

[PigPong]

I don't understand how anyone inadvertently unintentionally blows through a red light. That's a choice, and it's against the law. If you killed a pedestrian or another driver as a result, I think you would at least face manslaughter charges.

BTW I'm not a DP advocate and in your scenario I think life would be extreme, so that's not what I mean when I refer to holding negligent parents accountable.

I literally just got to the beach and am eating lunch on the balcony and trying to catch up. I wanted to throw my opinion in on your remarks on the red light thing (though I have no idea what the rest of this is about). People run red lights unintentionally all the time. I guess technically you could argue it's a choice but there used to be a poorly designed intersection that a red light got ran all the time, unintentionally. Was that a choice?

But, whatever the reason, if a person runs a light unintentionally (eexcept the design issue), and kill someone, they should be charged with at least some type of manslaughter...

 

[PaperDoll]

That's the thing.. it's not like he has a false memory of taking him to daycare. He just didn't take him.

Right! He remembered to take Cooper out of the car and into Chick-fli-A (Sp?), then take him out and put him in the car, strap him in the car seat, kiss him, then less than a minute later FORGETS to drive him to day care??? I know I'm repeating myself here but I can't help it.. lol.... He knew Cooper was in the car when he left to go into work.. He left him there to die ON PURPOSE!!!

 

[jjenny]

If you can't understand that, I can definitely understand how you can't understand forgetting your kid in a car seat. I don't know how to explain it other than to say the stop light doesn't even register. It's most definitely not a choice. When I've done it and realized I've done it (by the blaring of horns!) it totally freaked me out. As I mentioned, so many people have told me of doing exactly the same thing. It happens --- a lot.

If you are driving around blowing through red lights, then you are not paying attention. If that causes a crush then there is no doubt person blowing through red light will be responsible (whether he/she claims he did it on purpose or not).

 

[Karmady]

If you are driving around blowing through red lights, then you are not paying attention. If that causes a crush then there is no doubt person blowing through red light will be responsible (whether he/she claims he did it on purpose or not).

I never said they wouldn't be legally responsible. My post was about a life sentence or the DP -- which is what's on the table here, whether he did it on purpose or not.

 

[gitana1]

View attachment 54740

Praying for justice for this sweet little baby boy.

He's a beautiful baby. I know each one of us thinks of him when we get into our cars. I try not to imagine but it's hard. This is a horrifying case.

I know. And like I said, it is just stupid.

Well, we are a federalist democracy so unless you want to get rid of the constitution, this is te way it works.

We don't have one, ccentral authority that gets to decide for every state in all cases.
Federal laws governing child *advertiser censored* address all child *advertiser censored* occurring on ffederal lands and/or all child *advertiser censored* transported across state lines or through the Internet (wire). States handle the rest.

Unfortunately this guy is probably going to get away with murder...and we will see a rise in child car deaths...what a sad and unsettling thought

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Can you say why you think that? Especially when intent does not need to be proved? Just criminal child neglect causing death?

 

[Bratislava]

http://www.theage.com.au/world/ross...-of-murder-20140708-zszp6.html?skin=text-only

Why would the pastor say the part about Genesis 22? Sacrifice as a burnt offering? Sickening!:

At StoneBridge Church in Marietta, Georgia, the Harris family's church, Pastor David Eldridge has been talking about the story of Abraham for the past couple of months.

On June 22, four days after Cooper's death, Eldridge spoke of the loss of the little boy and the trials facing his parents, and of how congregants might support the couple with prayers and money.

Then he directed his flock to Genesis 22, in which God tells Abraham, ''Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moria and sacrifice him there as a burnt offering.''


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Typical American evangelical sermon topic. You can find millions of sermons about this story online. I always tried to teach Sunday school on the days when such stories were presented at church. I guess they are just disturbing to me.

 

[NancyA]

If you can't understand that, I can definitely understand how you can't understand forgetting your kid in a car seat. I don't know how to explain it other than to say the stop light doesn't even register. It's most definitely not a choice. When I've done it and realized I've done it (by the blaring of horns!) it totally freaked me out. As I mentioned, so many people have told me of doing exactly the same thing. It happens --- a lot.

Yes, people jump red lights, people forget children in cars, some don't and blow through on red on purpose and some leave their kids in cars on purpose. Sometimes no harm done, close call whew, sometimes someone gets hurt or dies. There are appropriate penalties already for all these scenarios so I just don't understand what your point is unless it's to highlight there's a possibility, despite all the incriminating evidence and suspicious circumstances pointing to the contrary, Cooper's death was just a tragic accident. Even if it was, given that so many red flags have been raised doesn't it still warrant a thorough investigation and yes, a trial, to establish that one way or the other?

Eta and yes I do know you are asking if this DP worthy so I'll say I don't agree with the DP however if that is the lawful penalty in that state then anyone who lives there is or should be aware of that and bear it in mind if they are considering committing a DP eligible crime.

 

[Bratislava]

He would probably have just been making sure she was going to make it "in time" with work and traffic (which is horrible in Atlanta) and, if not, he'd either be late to the movie or get Cooper himself. Based on Stoddard's testimony that they picked up a roughly equal number of times in the nine days prior, they may not have had a plan etched in stone every day.

I'm sticking to my theory that RH was planning a little park hook-up between 4:16 and the time of arriving at the movie, which he told his friends would be "late". That's my suspicion and JMO. But he was acting like a man with a plan of some sort, and it was a plan that required him to do things like get light bulbs during lunch so that maybe he could tell his wife that he stopped to get light bulbs after movie or between work and movie.

I think RH was distracted by hookup plans.

 

[TorisMom003]

For the pastor at Cooper's funeral to talk about Abraham sacrificing Isaac, especially in light of what Harris has been charged with, is in extremely poor taste. Yes, God stopped Abraham's hand before he killed his son, but still. Cooper is dead, by his "father's" hand.

MOO

 

[jjenny]

For the pastor at Cooper's funeral to talk about Abraham sacrificing Isaac, especially in light of what Harris has been charged with, is in extremely poor taste. Yes, God stopped Abraham's hand before he killed his son, but still. Cooper is dead, by his "father's" hand.

MOO

I found it bizarre as well.

 

[TorisMom003]

I'm sticking to my theory that RH was planning a little park hook-up between 4:16 and the time of arriving at the movie, which he told his friends would be "late". That's my suspicion and JMO. But he was acting like a man with a plan of some sort, and it was a plan that required him to do things like get light bulbs during lunch so that maybe he could tell his wife that he stopped to get light bulbs after movie or between work and movie.

I think RH was distracted by hookup plans.

BBM

"Distracted by hook up plans"? Before work? After strapping Cooper into his car seat at Chick-Fil-A? At the stop light when he SHOULD have turned left to take Cooper to day care?

Not understanding how that works.

 

[Confusion]

But does that mean RH "thinks" he dropped Cooper off at daycare to begin with or that he thinks his wife did so? Because that is where I get lost in this little narrative of the day.

It could be either one. Not exactly the same thing, I know, but... I've had some very important paperwork I had to do, and set up a time to sit down and do it. I'd set the papers, pen, whatever records I needed, etc. on my desk so I could just sit down and do it when I was ready. More than once, I got distracted for a bit, the housekeeper came and moved/put away the papers I had there, and by the next day I distinctly remembered doing the work, and assumed I forgot that I had mailed it since it wasn't still sitting on my desk waiting. It wouldn't be until I got a call, e-mail or letter about it not being done that I'd check my files, etc. and find it still there waiting to be completed. Even more irrelevant, my housekeeper is no longer allowed to touch anything on my desks!