The wife of Justin Ross Harris is speaking out, saying that he was "a loving and proud father" who simultaneously was "a terrible husband." Harris, now 41, was convicted of murder after. Harris, who moved from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to the Atlanta area for work in 2012, told police he forgot to drop his son off at day care on the morning of June 18, 2014, driving straight to his job as a web developer for Home Depot without remembering that Cooper was still in his car seat. Prosecutors would eventually charge Harris with malice murder and other offenses, a jury would convict him and a judge would send him to prison for the rest of his life. The mother of a 22-month-old boy who died in a hot car in 2014 is speaking out about his death and for the first time on TV her ex-husband's subsequent murder conviction . In the same testimony where he revealed this, Cobb County police detective Phil Stoddard detailed the ex-wifes odd behavior soon after her son was killed. "At first vote, all 12 [jurors] leaned toward guilty. Leanna Taylor Exclusive: Life after her ex-husband killed their son in a hot car. In his cross-examination, Justins defense attorney, Maddox Kilgore, argued instead that Stoddard has had a theory from the start that Justin and Leanna colluded together to purposefully kill Cooper. The Cobb County District Attorneys Office said in a statement that it plans to file a motion for reconsideration in the case. This was never about me defending Ross, she told 20/20. When you get on the stand and you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, thats what youre supposed to do, and thats what I did., I couldnt get up there and say he was a bad father because it wasnt true, Taylor continued. Since the funeral, Taylor said she has been the target of horrific bullying, both in person and online. Taylor said she refuses to believe what happened was anything but a horrible accident. RELATED:Uvalde Police Department Spark Backlash For Job Advertisement After Fatal School Shooting. ATLANTA Justin Ross Harris is seeking a new trial in the murder of his 22-month-old son, Cooper. Defense attorneys described him as a loving father and said the boys death was a tragic accident. He stopped by the car early that afternoon, purportedly to put away some light bulbs he had purchased. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Cooper Harris is seen in this undated handout photo. The mother of a 22-month-old boy who died in a hot car in 2014 is speaking out about his death and for the first time on TV her ex-husbands subsequent murder conviction. Justin Ross Harris was arrested and charged five years ago today with intentionally leaving his young son inside a hot car to die. I think the first question would be: Why? she said. She also said that she had not spoken to Harris since earlier this year and that she had now moved to Florence, Alabama, to be near a new boyfriend. ", Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Defense attorneys had maintained Cooper's death was an accident and Harris, a web developer for Home Depot, had forgotten that his son was in the car. She was like, Hes not here. I didnt know what to think.. They alsoclaimed that heexchanged sexual text messages with six different womenon the day his son died. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP Photo, Pool, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The court argued that the jury was presented with evidence that was improperly admitted and extremely and unfairly prejudicial.. Taylor got a tattoo of Coopers right footprint on her right foot so that she said he will always be walking with her. She has a second tattoo, a semicolon on her wrist, which has been used as a symbol of suicide prevention. Yet Taylors antipathy to Cobb authorities apparently still lingers. He was a very happy little boy. In fact, Taylor said Harris was a very involved father from the moment Cooper was born. She said every single day is hard, but especially the summertime., Every time she has to open her car door in the Alabama heat, and feels the inside of her vehicle, its a constant reminder of her son. The prosecution is expected to continue presenting its case throughout the beginning of next week. The accused dad claims he drove to work and didn't realize his son was strapped in the back into a car seat. How do you forget your child is there?, "This does happen. When Leanna Taylor and her Justin Ross Harris, welcomed their child, Cooper Mills Harris, into this world, they were overjoyed to embrace their parental duties. The wife of Justin Ross Harris, the Georgia man who is charged with murdering their 22-month-old son by leaving him in a scorching car, tried unsuccessfully Tuesday to see her husband in jail . You feel bad for that, but do we apologize for seeking justice for the murder of a 22-month-old child? She testified that Harris "wanted to be the one to push him on swings" at the playground. Three were unsure completely and wanted to review more evidence," Parish said of the deliberation process. Justin Ross Harris' conviction has been overturned. He was lost in the scandal that was the trial, she said. It was in June 2014, when Taylor's entire life changed after her then-husband, Justin Ross Harris, left their son Cooperbuckled in his rear-facing car seat in the back of an SUV parked outside of his father's place of work at a Home Depot corporate office in Marietta, Ga. Cooper spent seven hours locked in the car before he eventually died of hyperthermia. So, when you have something like that and you have the things we encountered as far as her behaviors and things wed found in the investigation, of course were also going to investigate that because weve got the death of a 22-month-old child in the most horrific way, he said. We never reached that point.. The Georgia Supreme Court voted to overturn the murder conviction of Justin Ross Harris, the father who left his toddler son in a hot car for hours in 2014. Police say Cooper was in the car when Harris drove to work at a Home Depot corporate office that morning, and when Harris went inside, Cooper was left in the vehicle. The state convincingly demonstrated that (Harris) was a philanderer, a pervert, and even a sexual predator, Nahmias wrote. "And I pray YOU never have to walk this path.". Harris' wife, Leanna Taylor, eventually filed for divorce. He emphasized that detectives had found more than 30,000 photos of Cooper on Leannas laptop, undercutting the idea that she was out to cause him harm. Harris, who had pleaded not guilty, was accused of murdering the couple's son, Cooper, more than two years ago. She told Petchenik she made the statement out of anger, but has considered meeting Harris if he ever gets out of prison to seek closure. Taylor said she doesnt expect police or prosecutors to apologize to her. Later that day, after Harris went back again to his car and drove away from work, then he pulled over in a shopping center parking lot where he asked for help, authorities say. That just wasnt true. Taylors then-husband, Justin Ross Harris, was arrested almost immediately after his son was found, and prosecutors argued he intentionally left Cooper to die. But it wasnt until that afternoon while he was driving to a nearby movie theater that Harris claimed to notice his son was still in the car. "He actually mentioned that he forgot to take his double-look, she added. In an exclusive clip from ABCs upcoming 20/20 special, airing Friday night, Leanna Taylor reveals the reason behind her seemingly emotionless reaction after her toddler son, Cooper, was found dead in his fathers car in June 2014. For taking his family for granted., She adds, I accept it, [but] its not going to change anything., Robach tells PEOPLE that when she sat down with Taylor for the 20/20 interview, she was extremely open and honest, answering all of the tough and delicate questions about the most devastating day of her life.. He would talk to strangers in the restaurants and grocery store, she said. They also alleged that Harris was leading a double life, having multiple online affairs, including with an underage girl, and argued that Harris behavior showed he intentionally killed his son to escape the responsibilities of family life. I have not been 'ok' since the moment I was told my son was dead. I think it is really hard to do something like that. On the day Harris was accused of intentionally leaving his son in the hot car, he was sexting with six women, including a minor, according to phone records. Taylor, however, has long maintained that she believes her sons death was an accident. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. He faces life in prison if hes convicted. The courts majority opinion said the jury heard and saw an extensive amount of improperly admitted evidence. It claimed that as prosecutors painted Harris as a man who intentionally and maliciously abandoned his child to die in the summer heat, they also presented a substantial amount of evidence to lead the jury to answer a different and more legally problematic question: what kind of man is (Harris)?. She stood by him on the. Initially, Cobb County police questioned whether Taylor may have been complicit in Coopers death, something she vehemently denied. Theyre not going to come forward and say that they were absolutely wrong about me,she said. Most suspicious, police said, was that while Harris was awaiting questioning at the police station, Taylor was recorded asking him, Did you say too much? Later, at Coopers funeral, eyewitnesses reported that she seemed unemotional, and that she told people Cooper seemed to be in a better place. As a result, intent was the lynchpin of the case, the dissenting opinion read. It was that or go to jail. Last month a jury in Brunswick, Georgia found Justin Ross Harris guilty of malice murder and cruelty to children for leaving his 22-month-old son Cooper in a hot car to die. Today, her son Cooper has been gone longer than he was alive. -- Leanna Taylor, the ex-wife of Justin Ross Harris, the Georgia man found guilty Monday of intentionally leaving his 22-month-old son to die in a hot SUV in June 2014, took to Facebook recently, lashing out at critics of both her and Harris. Pick up PEOPLEs special edition True Crime Stories: Cases That Shocked America, on sale now, for the latest on Casey Anthony, JonBent Ramsey and more. And, while Taylor said she doesnt believe Harris intentionally murdered their child, she hasnt forgiven him for his extramarital affairs, that police said included sex with prostitutes and sexting of underage girls. I know in my heart I didnt have anything to do with it. Given the state had to prove the allegedly limitless extent of those desires and the level of depravity prosecutors alleged, the trial court had the discretion to admit a detailed and wide-ranging body of evidence concerning those issues, the opinion said. Despite the accusations against her ex-husband, Taylor took the stand to testify in his defense. Declaring their marriage "irretrievably broken," Leanna Harris submitted the paperwork to sever her nearly 10 year marriage to Justin Ross Harris on Wednesday in Cobb County Superior Court in Marietta, Georgia, according to records obtained by NBC News. He received a total of 12 years in prison for those crimes and will remain behind bars. It does not matter! ), There was no evidence in our relationship that suggested that he would harm anyone, much less his own son, Taylor tells Robach, in a 20/20 clip that aired on Good Morning America Friday.
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