A father was found guilty of deliberately leaving his son in a hot car to die has been shown no leniency by the judge during his sentencing.
Justin Ross Harris, of Atlanta, has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his 22-month-old son, Cooper.
In November a jury found the 36-year-old guilty of intentionally leaving the boy in his rear-facing car seat the family SUV on June 18, 2014 as he went to work.
An additional 32 years was also added to the sentence by Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mark Staley Clark – 16 of which related to sexual texts he had sent to a minor.
The Judge said Harris had “callously walked away” and left his child in a hot car “to swelter and die.”
As per CNN:
“State witnesses testified that Harris lived what prosecutors described as a ‘double life.’
To his wife, family, friends and co-workers, Harris was seen as a loving father and husband. Unbeknownst to them, Harris engaged in online sexual communication with multiple women, including two underage girls, had extramarital sexual encounters in public places and paid for sex with a prostitute.”
Some feel Harris was on trial for his character – not the charge of his son’s death – including his ex-wife and Cooper’s mother, Leanna Taylor.
Defence attorneys had maintained that Harris has forgotten his son was in the car and Taylor was their key witness.
She testified in court that Harris was a “very involved” parent who would never hurt their son. Taylor – who divorced Harris after her son’s death – said that the only way Cooper died was because he was left by accident.
Following Harris’ November conviction Taylor took to social media to say that the verdict was not just and blaming someone for her child’s death doesn’t bring her boy back.
“…you can convict every parent that this has ever happened to [accidentally left a child in a car], and I can promise you 2 things…#1 it will never bring our children back and #2 it will not prevent this from happening in the future.
“Next summer, as this begins to happen over and over again, ask yourself, ‘what can be done?!’ The problem is not the parent! The problem is a society that refuses to believe this can happen to them! Wake up! Accept it! And by accepting it you will be protecting your child!””
