GA - Suspicion over heat death of Cooper, 22 mo., Cobb County, June 2014, #3

[Judicious1]

Who talks about having other children "when this is over" at their own child's funeral? That just seems WAY over the top inappropriate to me - reminds me of the statement when someone loses one of their children and some insensitive person says, "Well at least you've got other children...." As if children can be interchangeable.

Sorry - just really struck me as tacky.

So hard to know what is going on in her mind right now. She could be sedated or on a prescription just to get through the day. I think its early... She is grieving and time will tell if she will remain on her husbands side. Clearly based on what she is alleged to have said at the funeral , and the report that people stood in his support when he called she believes him and that this was an accident. She must not be the only one if they stood. Grief is a unusual state of mind. I do agree the comment would be jarring to hear sitting in the church. But again people do very of the wall things at wakes and funeral. They aren't always in their right mind. I know I wasn't and it wasn't a child.

 

[Linda7NJ]

IMO, my guess is that he expected to find him deceased at that time and have the big discovery at that moment or perhaps he confirmed that he was deceased, but there was no one around to witness his staged act and he needed the audience for drama's sake. So he decided to postpone the big reveal. The worst case for me to consider was he just wanted to see for himself that he was no longer living and reassure himself that his plan "worked". Then he spent the rest of the day thinking about how he was going to put the actual dramatic discovery and along with guaranteed witnesses into action.



Was it stated that the searches he admitted to were on prior days or just prior to the child's death?

"Recently" was the descriptor

And I totally agree with every word you wrote


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[Sonya610]

If he was in rigor don't you think they would have mentioned it so they could get a warrant to check the home ASAP to see if he could have died elsewhere?

The father stated they were at chic-fil-a that morning. LE has video.

An autopsy was done -- awaiting toxicology but the cause of death was hyperthermia.

And I do not think the warrant would include details about rigor...why would it?

 

[tlcya]

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2012/07/2012-hyundai-tucson-car-seat-check.html

Here are some photos of Tucson with car seats in them. It looks like a pretty close fit to the front seats.

THANK YOU! These are awesome for illustrating the interior of the vehicle in question with carseat factored in.

http://blogs.cars.com/.a/6a00d83451b3c669e2017616258b33970c-800wi

from your link.

This one is particularly helpful in illustrating how the seat was positioned that day (except this one is behind passenger seat and Coopers was in the middle back) and how very close the two were in the car

 

[Gardenlady]

Have read every post so far but have been unable to post. In fact, taking a time out risk posting now, after reading what came out of moms mouth at te funeral hoh:

I can understand many cases of a parent killing a child - I can understand (though obviously not excuse) becoming angry and shaking or hurting a baby in complete frustration, because most of us, if we are honest, have had the moment where we are so overcome with frustration that we have to put a screaming baby in a crib, close the door and walk out for a bit. So I GET those cases.

I can "get", logically, the PPP cases, like Andrea Yates. It is horrific, but a true break with reality.

But this? This guy is a horrifying , and I can't even wrap my mind around it. I don't, can't, "GET" premeditating such a slow, torturous death for ones own tiny child. For ANY living thing. But your own child?

And this mother. Cripes, I hope she's just in some deep state of denial or something, because otherwise I cannot even say what I think of her statements... Gods will, WTFever lady... uke:


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[Gardenlady]

From momshrinks link

Leanna Harris followed her son's casket out of the church, still on the phone with her husband.

She said, "I love you," before hanging up the phone.



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Wtf?? hoh: :scared:


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[Linda7NJ]

So hard to know what is going on in her mind right now. She could be sedated or on a prescription just to get through the day. I think its early... She is grieving and time will tell if she will remain on her husbands side. Clearly based on what she is alleged to have said at the funeral , and the report that people stood in his support when he called she believes him and that this was an accident. She must not be the only one if they stood. Grief is a unusual state of mind. I do agree the comment would be jarring to hear sitting in the church. But again people do very of the wall things at wakes and funeral. They aren't always in their right mind. I know I wasn't and it wasn't a child.

Denial is a powerful thing, it's not a conscious choice. It just is.
Imo


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[Patchouliluvr]

It sounds like motherhood was very important to her (from what reporter was quoting). So maybe she wanted to be a mom more than he wanted to be a dad. Could he have been jealous of Cooper and an " accident " was his solution.? Just thinking out loud.

 

[Cinnamon]

Was media at the funeral? How and why do they know this? I'm glad for us we are getting some updates but I would NEVER allow media at such a private event especially considering the situation with the husband!

The funeral was public, so anybody was free to attend it, imo.

Little Cooper will be memorialized at a public funeral Saturday at University Church of Christ. His burial and viewing will be private. His father is being held without bond at the Cobb County jail after pleading not guilty last week. He's scheduled for a preliminary appearance on July 3. Because he's charged with murder, a grand jury will also have to review his case if the magistrate in next week's hearing finds probable cause for the charge to stand.

http://www.kiiitv.com/story/2588936...t-georgia-toddler-cooper-harris-hot-car-death

 

[Virgoedge]

The quote from the CNN article that really gave me a chill is-

"Then Leanna Harris spoke.

"First of all Ross, I love you and I'm doing this for you, OK?" she said. "This is not where I expected to be here today. Two years ago when we welcomed a 6-pound, 8-ounce perfect baby into the world. This never crossed my mind."

I'm doing this for you? What does that even mean?

 

[Chewy]

Another random thought, perhaps the breakfast stop was to create a delay so that when he arrived, everybody would be out of the parking lot.

 

[Linda7NJ]

THANK YOU! These are awesome for illustrating the interior of the vehicle in question with carseat factored in.

http://blogs.cars.com/.a/6a00d83451b3c669e2017616258b33970c-800wi

from your link.

This one is particularly helpful in illustrating how the seat was positioned that day (except this one is behind passenger seat and Coopers was in the middle back) and how very close the two were in the car

Is it at all possible to get a photo with the door closed ? The view as if he was opening the drivers side car door .




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[Linda7NJ]

Another random thought, perhaps the breakfast stop was to create a delay so that when he arrived, everybody would be out of the parking lot.

Bingo...

Amazing how he's just the unluckiest guy in the world, huh?



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[x_files]

Is that what she meant by...I am doing this for you?

for the defense team.

 

[sorrell skye]

I think the mother's statement about Ross being a "leader to our children" is referring to children in general, i.e. a Christian role model that, in LH's eyes, children can look up to.

I also think that LH is practicing what her faith teaches her - forgiveness and unconditional love - by standing by her husband.

If I put myself in her shoes, I'm able to understand why she feels the way she does and why she believes in her husband's innocence.

If my husband or loved one was charged with a horrific crime, I know I'd have a difficult time accepting that they were guilty. I'd want to believe it was a terrible mistake, because the alternative would be too much to bear, especially if a precious child was killed.

Personally, I think LH is in deep denial. After reading the warrants, I think it's highly possible that RH may have premeditated killing his poor little boy.

The internet search about what temperature it needs to be for a child to die in a car. Claiming to have forgotten to take his child to daycare during a very brief time span after leaving the restaurant that morning. Going to the car at lunch to put something in the car.

I can understand that LH doesn't want to believe that her husband is capable of killing the most precious person in her life. But I'm not emotionally attached to RH, so I'm able to look at the situation objectively.

I don't think LH should be criticized for her statements. I think she needs compassion and understanding, even if one disagrees with her stance.

 

[OtterPops]

I am wondering if his little searching is also the reason he stopped for a 2nd breakfast.... thinking that change in his usual pattern will help him fit in with other child deaths in hot cars. Problem is, the others didn't involve a 3 minute drive after the change in routine and probably not removing and interacting with the child either. jmo

I dunno. Even people here seem to be holding out hope that little "change in routine" really made him forget...

 

[jmcgladr]

(snipped by me)

And this mother. Cripes, I hope she's just in some deep state of denial or something, because otherwise I cannot even say what I think of her statements... Gods will, WTFever lady... uke:

It does seem very early to be talking about having other children in the future, when her recently deceased child is not even in the ground yet! On the one hand, thinking of the possibility of future children helped get me through my miscarriage. On the other hand, I needed some time to grieve and get over that before other pregnancies/children were even a thought - and that was only an early pregnancy miscarriage, not an almost 2 year old child!

 

[tlcya]

Wow where to start-

I'm shocked to see he was the one who told the police about the search and that it was a child vs animal. Not sure what that means if anything. I know he said recently preformed it. Lots of parents fear this put if its been a very recent search and them your child dies in the same scenario ...its a strong case for premeditation. I want to know if he searched the upcoming forecast close to the time he looked up the other stuff. Checking the weather isn't unusual unless its not a consistent habit. Being he is a referee it just might be. Warrant said this information came up during an interview with him. That technically doesn't mean he offered the info up. It could have been hours into the interrogation and someone could have said - if I were to get a warrant to search your office what do you think I'm going to find - or is there anything you want to tell me etc etc

I'm also waiting on the cell investigation or the time stamp on the Chicfila video or whatever they have to confirm he was there and put Cooper in the carseat. I want to know how long between getting in the car and Ross walking into work. I know the drive is only 3 mins but did he make calls, surf the web, Facebook.. It could be that more time elapsed. Not sure it matters but I'm interested to know. If nothing happened to distract him like a call or text 3 mins is a very short time to forget a child in the car. If He was extremely sleep deprived ... Maybe .. Still a hard call though.

Car visit still throws me off. Police said he was at work at 9:30am.
Nothing he could have read online could have made him feel Cooper could last very long in the car at those temps assuming he planned this all out. So even if we add and extra 1/2 hour to the timeline Cooper would be deceased by 11:00am. I can't think why he would feel the need to check on him if he planned to leave later at 4 anyway? He would have known he would certainly have passed by then. Seems odd for someone trying to get away with murder. But then again so does taking him to breakfast just to purposely leave him. Would have made a lot more sense to go straight to work and say you forgot.

I would like to know if he typically went out to lunch or if he ate at his desk daily. Avoiding going out when he normally does would be an interesting fact.

As far as the daycare calling or not calling I'm guessing no and I don't see why it matters. If they called him then he would have lied- yes this looks bad so some say he would have just ignored the call. Fine, then they would have called mom and she would have called Ross frantically looking for her son unless she was in on the plot which I do not believe for a second. To me daycare is a non issue other than the time Cooper got picked up daily. If between 4-5pm then that tells me Ross leaving work at the time he did is no coincidence. He would have needed time to discover and contact the wife before pick up time.

I didn't see reference to the smell or choking in the warrant. Just that the child was clearly deceased despite Ross attempting CPR. If he was in rigor don't you think they would have mentioned it so they could get a warrant to check the home ASAP to see if he could have died elsewhere? Witnesses referred the choking this I know but I know one said he " thought " he was choking. As a crowd gathered could it be possible that someone said that to someone else and that gave the crowd a perception that Ross had tried to say the boy had been choking?

Things are not looking good here folks. I try to remain in a juror type impartial mind frame until trial so I will wait to hear both sides of the coin. Obviously if I had to go based only on what we know as of today its pretty clear there was most likely intent.

I see you finally caught up. This thread has been flying so even a break to sleep or run errands leaves one frantically trying to play catch up.

yes, this recent searching on child death due to heat in vehicles was quite the shocker to read in the search warrants.

Interesting points about the warrants containing no mention of odor. I tend to agree that if that was such a noticeable big factor to seasoned vet LEOs it would have been mentioned in teh probably cause statements. As to the rigor same thing. However, I wonder if there were those factors but there was also concern that a defense attorney might then question an officer's credibility or ability to speak to medical things such as decomp and rigor. Perhaps they stuck with facts that could be documented such as his statement (likely on video) about the searches.

Most of the warrants are geared toward devices and so most relevant and telling thing to put in the warrants requesting those items would be things that spoke directly to what the accused himself told them they would find.

 

[Karmady]

The quote from the CNN article that really gave me a chill is-

"Then Leanna Harris spoke.

"First of all Ross, I love you and I'm doing this for you, OK?" she said. "This is not where I expected to be here today. Two years ago when we welcomed a 6-pound, 8-ounce perfect baby into the world. This never crossed my mind."

I'm doing this for you? What does that even mean?

The same as the rest of the quotes others have cited, imo. They're obviously extremely religious of a particular type. I think she means it's his job to be there delivering the eulogy as the leader of the family and he can't so she's doing it for him. jmo

 

[Judicious1]

The father stated they were at chic-fil-a that morning. LE has video.

An autopsy was done -- awaiting toxicology but the cause of death was hyperthermia.

And I do not think the warrant would include details about rigor...why would it?

I thought it might mention it but wasn't sure so thought I would ask.
So it was referenced early on that the police new he was lying and that started the investigation but if he never mentioned the choking story to the police and filled them in on the stop for breakfast and the Internet search what do we think he was lying about .... Other than it might not have been an accident but at the scene there was no way to know that. What am I forgetting?