GA - Suspicion over heat death of Cooper, 22 mo., Cobb County, June 2014, #5

[NancyA]

Busy night for you guys. I'm pretty much settled in my mind as to RH's guilt, I can't get past the fact that both he and his wife researched hot car deaths so should have been hyper-aware and vigilant against such an eventuality. So, the fact it then did happen to them, is inexcusable in my eyes. That said, I'm not so sure yet about the wife's complicity, if she wasn't complicit, her fatalistic acceptance and apparent lack of 'blame' toward RH I have a few ideas about but given the fact that religion is off the table right now I won't elaborate. Meantime I have a list of things I'd like to know out of sheer curiosity.

The lunchtime visit to the car - was it a witness or a security camera that saw him?
Did daycare call to find out about Cooper's absence that day?
What time was Cooper to be picked up and by whom? I'm presuming LH if RH had plans to go out after work.
Who was RH meeting after work, what time and where?
Who did he call while the strangers at the strip mall were trying to resuscitate Cooper?
Was the Chik-Fil-A breakfast stop a regular occurence or just a one-off?
I wonder had RH claimed previously to have other visions/premonitions/foreshadowings or were the Jesus dream and the hot car death 'fear' the only occurrences of this phenomenon?

I also had a question about the nearest ER/hospital but has already been answered, from previous posts I now know there was one near enough for him to have gone there instead of the strip mall.

 

[believe09]

I am sure this has already been read and dissected, but I know we were having an active conversation about the service guests:

Carol Brown, a longtime family friend, was one of those in attendance.
"I mean he could have gone to the car and not seen the little boy, if the boy was sleeping, or you know ... it could happen," she said.
"He could have been distracted. But I do have questions about it."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/30/justice/georgia-toddler-death/index.html?hpt=ju_c2

 

[Sonya610]

IMO He opened the side door and heard the choking and immediately realized the child wasn't dead yet. So he closed the door and walked away. Then he had to redo his discovery.

At the 3 hour mark the baby could have been unconscious but still alive, I would think he would have known that (and having a severely brain damaged baby to support for the rest of his life probably wasn't the goal here).

Awful thought, but is it possible the child was still conscious at that point? Instead of choking maybe the child was still crying/calling out for him when he opened the door?

 

[believe09]

Again, holding out hope here that Cooper was drugged unconscious. This murder (imo) is bad enough without imagining conscious continual suffering.

 

[Chewy]

At the 3 hour mark the baby could have been unconscious but still alive, I would think he would have known that (and having a severely brain damaged baby to support for the rest of his life probably wasn't the goal here).

Awful thought, but is it possible the child was still conscious at that point? Instead of choking maybe the child was still crying/calling out for him when he opened the door?

I think that if the child was crying or calling out he wouldn't have risked someone else passing by afterward and seeing it. And for all he knew, someone may have already called the police. It would be inexcusable if the police suddenly arrived to a hysterically crying baby and have him just closed the door pretending he didn't notice. He'd be in trouble.

I think the child was choking because (as I said before) he slipped and said this in front of witnesses (I'd need verification on this again though)

Just repeating something I said early on in the other threads, there was another case where a perpetrator said that they heard the person gagging after a gunshot wound. And the cops realized that the person had been dead for hours and only someone present at the time of death would know that the person had gagged that way.

If the autopsy on Cooper shows vomit in his esophagus or some evidence that he indeed was gagging or choking prior to death, this would be another proof of guilt IMO.

 

[Elley Mae]

It's my opinion that he drove to the strip mall to have witnesses.

 

[popsicle]

The lunchtime visit to the car - was it a witness or a security camera that saw him?

snipped for focus

Authorities later said they received information that Harris went to his SUV during lunchtime, and put something in it.

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2014/06/wife_of_justin_ross_harris_als.html

 

[human]

I have read that warrant several times. It appears to me, in my pea brain, that perhaps there were cameras in the Home Depot parking lot. Reason I say this is the statement that he 'returned to his car at lunch.' Of course LE have not stated how they know this but if Harris did not tell them how did they know??? Camera maybe. Also they stated what time he left work, like 4:16 or something. Makes me think cameras were there. MOO

Doesn't everyplace have cameras nowadays?

 

[believe09]

I suppose it is possible he finished his son off when he went back to the car.

The witness/colleague statements from that day will be interesting I am sure. Because it appears from the independent witness statements at the scene that he is not a good actor. He didn't fool many, at least at that moment.

 

[believe09]

snipped for focus

Authorities later said they received information that Harris went to his SUV during lunchtime, and put something in it.

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2014/06/wife_of_justin_ross_harris_als.html

Honestly, I think that could be anything from cameras to a visual witness to both. JMO. The info being leaked/shared is very specific.

 

[Elley Mae]

Sources told an Atlanta news reporter the father whose son was found dead in a hot car used his work computer to search how long it would take an animal to die in a hot car.

bbm

http://wreg.com/2014/06/25/source-d...-die-in-hot-car-before-child-left-in-hot-car/

snipped

But Pierce told CNN on Friday, “I cannot confirm that the child, as originally reported, was in the car at 9 a.m.”

 

[popsicle]

Honestly, I think that could be anything from cameras to a visual witness to both. JMO. The info being leaked/shared is very specific.

I just think it is telling that it appears he failed to mention this at all to LE.

 

[Sonya610]

Honestly, I think that could be anything from cameras to a visual witness to both. JMO. The info being leaked/shared is very specific.

I think they definitely have video, if it was just a witness statement then LE wouldn't likely be stating it as "absolute fact", they seem extremely specific about what went on but they don't know what the object was, which implies they couldn't tell from the video footage.

It isn't like there would be half a dozen witnesses that remember him going out to his car and putting something in the drivers side door.

 

[Elley Mae]

What ever the object was I think it was an excuse to check on Cooper's status. jmo

 

[Elley Mae]

In a description of the crime scene, the warrants read, “It was obvious that the child was deceased.”

http://mdjonline.com/view/full_stor...ed-child-car-deaths?instance=home_top_bullets

 

[who knew?]

I would think whatever he placed in his car (if anything) would be listed in the contents of the car during the search. Unfortunately, I doubt that will be released before trial.

 

[Chewy]

Doesn't everyplace have cameras nowadays?

Every place has cameras but especially parking lots because of vandalism and theft and potential car jackings. As the IT guy there I would surmise (but might be wrong) that he knew exactly where the cameras were located and also knew that he was on camera while he was at the car.

IMO one of the reasons he drove away before discovery was because if he did the discovery right there on the spot he'd know they'd definitely pull the tape and see him going down earlier. So he tried to throw a distraction.

IMO once he came down to the car at lunch and realized he hadn't waited long enough, he knew he had a high chance of getting busted. This is why he revealed the google searches and tried to preempt discovery.

 

[cavvy]

I find this statement to be very unusual. It portrays a somewhat negative view of life. What about the joys, accomplishments, and landmarks of childhood? Was there some thought about sparing the child from life's pitfalls? This almost implies that the child is better off not living.

"A family friend got on stage with Cooper’s mother and asked the crowd of nearly 200 people to give Ross Harris a round of applause. Leanna said God was holding her up through this time. She said she'll miss her son forever, but now he will not have to deal with heartbreak, worry about awkward stages or deal with middle or high school."

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/cobb-county-father-makes-jailhouse-call-sons-funer/ngT8H/

Also, in that same article.... Leanna told mourners she is not angry at her husband and called him a great father and great leader for Cooper. Leanna went on to say she would not bring Cooper back into this selfish world.

Selfish world? What would make her say that? 11,000+ people took the time to sign a petition supporting her husband and she thinks she's living in a selfish world?

The only selfishness in all of this is that the person responsible for Cooper's death apparently was so self absorbed in their own world or thoughts that they left their beautiful child in the car to die. So sad.

 

[tlcya]

To me it seems cut and dried. GA law states if a death occurs during commission of the felony charge of child neglect/cruelty you are guilty of murder. So those debating whether there was premeditation or not are chasing their tales (JMO)

For those who feel like those charges are not appropriate their problem is with the law as written. If you don't like the laws and GA is your state, work to change them.

Not snark. It just seems to me that most people who object to the prosecution of this case have a problem with the GA law as written. Unless they want to argue that you can be unaware of the dangerous neglectful situation leaving your child in a hot car for 7 hours can cause. But the research admitted to by both parents will perfectly illustrate that these parents were extremely AWARE of those dangers. And yet that is what happened.

To be blunt, Cooper baked in that car, like a turkey in an oven all day. The child was literally slow cooked. I don't know how much more cruel or neglectful that could be.

Yes I do, two trips to the car, the one during lunch and the one after work. I just do not see how anyone can feel that a reasonable person would not have become aware of the child even if they believe (as I don't) that he did not know in the morning on leaving Cooper there.

MOO this man has been charged appropriately to the laws in the state he resides.

As to the charges being reduced. The magistrate told the DA and the investigators on the 1st degree child neglect/cruelty that they were;t quite there yet. They had plenty of evidence to charge him and continue investigating but they weren't quite there with 1st degree. This does not preclude them later bumping that charge up although I don't know why they would. The burden of proof is lesser on the 2nd degree charge and the sentence is the same (death or life). I see no "hard On" for Ross by LE. I see investigators shocked at the level of neglect it takes to leave a child to roast in your car all day after having researched that very "accident" because you feared it could happen and then visited your car twice during that day but claim not to have known your child was in it.

Again, all of this is JMO but the charges are completely appropriate for this crime.

 

[stmarysmead]

If you are looking for "preventive" articles about hot car...this one on WebMD is one of the first that pops up on a search. It has some FREE ideas for prevention.

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/hot-cars-and-child-death-prevention

Why do you research the thing you supposedly fear and then adapt NEITHER of the free suggestions?

And why do you need to know time and weight? You are looking for a recipe?