If her intent was to grab files and leave quickly when she got out of her car, then SHE KNEW HER BABY WAS IN THAT CAR when she left it. She didn't "forget" about the baby until after she got inside. It is illegal and morally reprehensible to KNOWINGLY leave an infant alone in a car, even if it is locked....even if it is "just for 5 minutes."
I know you intended for this cautionary tale about your beloved mentor to engender sympathy, but I find this woman repugnant and lacking in priorities. Take 30 seconds to unbuckle your baby and take him with you, for Christ's sake! Is that so hard? What a selfish woman! You would have been better off claiming that she thought she dropped her baby off because of the "extra stop" or "unexpected change in routine" that supporters of this dad keep spouting off about.
I 100 percent agree with this. Any parent who knowingly leaves a baby in a car is criminal and negligent in my mind.
Another fact that is extremely telling to me is that Harris is being held WITHOUT bail. That's huge to me. It says that LE knows something we don't and leaves no doubt about if this is a accident or not.
And another fact is the smell that was undoubtedly in the car by 4:00 pm that day. There's no way he didn't smell it the minute he opened the car to go home. I find it suspect he got in that smelly car and drove any length of time in the car before "remembering"
As an aside I've read in this thread that these parents had trouble conceiving. That makes this case even more heartbreaking. My own husband and I have been there done that and are expecting our first child next month. And we experienced frightening circumstances even after me getting pregnant being on bed rest for 3 months. I can say that parents who have had to fight to become parents are of a different breed. I think we become hyper aware and far more over zealous which makes me wonder why something didn't click in this guys head during those 7 long hours.
I realize that all parents make mistakes and some might leave a kid in a car if they are on autopilot but they would surely not forget for 7 long hours!!!
BBM.3
I have wanted to point something out about the "smell" that everyone keeps mentioning but have continually forgotten. The smell of death is unforgettable and yet NONE of the witnesses at the scene commented on any smell emanating from the vehicle or the body. So I'm not entirely convinced that the smell had anything to do with the cops busting him right then and there.
IMO what happened is that the father intended to make the discovery of the body when he went to the car at noon. He took something with him as an excuse to go to the car.
Why noon? IMO he felt it was enough time for the boy to die and before he'd be getting any phone calls from the wife or daycare center. IOW enough time to make sure he could "control the discovery."
He went to the car and heard the boy choking and immediately knew he was basically busted on camera and that it wasn't going to go down the way he had intended. He knows standing right by the car that he's on video camera. So he just walks back inside to the building (I seriously doubt he'd have done the google search then.)
He comes out later and tries to control the discovery by driving somewhere else away from the security cameras. But now he's in trouble because how does he rationalize not picking up the kid from day care?
What's the motive to driving somewhere very crowded?
A distraction. He doesn't want it just to be him and the cops during the discovery. More people creates more confusion and noise. People notoriously throw sympathy towards the parent that commits this act. So he's making lots of drama about "What have I done!!" to elicit that sympathy and drama in the hopes that it would distract the cops. That IMO is why he drove elsewhere.
As far as the constant applauding of him being a stand up guy, my goodness has no one watched any true crime shows out there? Tons of people have been convicted of horrible horrible crimes and prior had been considered a very upstanding member of society. That means absolutely nothing to me except an indication that the person is likely a sociopath. Sociopaths are known for being very friendly charismatic people. It's how they mask their lack of emotion.
He didn't need an accomplice to pull this off. It's very obvious that all he needed to do was leave the kid in the car and walk away.
Just because the child was supposed to have died in the first hour or so doesn't mean it happened that way. Like others have pointed out there have been cases of children surviving longer that that. The child may have been in a seizure or comatose and gagging and choking.
There had to be something right on the scene that indicated to the police immediately that his story didn't add up. They arrested him right away. They didn't wait for computer searches or any more details.
IMO he slipped and said he heard the boy choking in the back of the car which is why he pulled him out and had CPR started. But the EMT and the police could see immediately that the boy had been dead for some time. That statement was his undoing.
And it's sad to think that Coopers last gasps for life in choking are what ultimately revealed the truth about what his father did to him.
MOO
