A Georgia father whose murder conviction was overturned for the overheated death of his infant son in a car has been released from prison, nearly 10 years after he left his 22-month-old son in the car while he was at work.
Justin Ross Harris was released from Macon State Prison on Sunday, Father’s Day, according to Georgia Department of Corrections records.
Harris was convicted of eight charges, including manslaughter, in November 2016 for leaving her 22-month-old son Cooper in the backseat of her car for about seven hours while she was working at her suburban Atlanta office.
Parents who lost daughter warn of ‘preventable tragedy’ after child dies from heatstroke in car
Justin Ross Harris, the father of a toddler who police say died after being left in a hot car for about seven hours, breaks down in tears during a bail hearing in Cobb County Magistrate Court in Marietta, Georgia, in 2014. (Associated Press)
The case attracted worldwide attention because parents are rarely charged with murder in such cases, with most believed to be the result of tragic accidents caused by forgetful parents or a breakdown in communication between the parents.
Harris, who moved to the Atlanta area from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for work in 2012, told police that she forgot to drop her son off at daycare on the morning of June 18, 2014, and headed straight to her job as a web developer at Home Depot, unaware that Cooper was still in his car seat. Temperatures that day reached at least the upper 80s Fahrenheit, and Cooper died from the extreme heat.
The judge sentenced Harris to life in prison plus an additional 32 years for other charges. Harris began serving his sentence on December 6, 2016.
But in June 2022, the Georgia Supreme Court voted 6-3 to overturn the murder and child abuse convictions, saying the jury saw evidence showing “gross unfair bias.”
Justin Ross Harris, convicted in Georgia for the death of a baby in a car, asks Supreme Court to overturn conviction
Cooper’s mother, Lianna Taylor, cries as attorney Maddox Kilgore shows jurors photos of her son during the murder trial of Cooper’s ex-husband, Justin Ross Harris, in Brunswick, Georgia, on October 31, 2016. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, Poole)
For example, prosecutors presented evidence of Harris’ extramarital sexual activities, including exchanging sexually explicit messages and graphic photographs with women and girls and engaging in sex acts with some of them, to create the impression that he was unhappy in his marriage and wanted to kill his son in order to be free.
The state argued that evidence of Harris’ extramarital sexual conduct was relevant and showed a motive for killing his son. The defense described Harris as a doting father and said his son’s death was a tragic accident.
In their appeal, the defense argued that the judge presiding over the 2016 trial should never have allowed evidence of Harris’ extramarital affairs or intimate relationships presented at trial because his sexual misconduct had nothing to do with his son’s death and was prejudicial.
The defense further argued that the judge erred in requiring the defense to disclose defense expert notes, in allowing the introduction of 3D animated videos, and in limiting cross-examination of certain witnesses.
The state Supreme Court threw out the murder conviction but upheld three convictions for sex crimes against a 16-year-old girl that Harris did not appeal. He continued to serve time for those charges before being released on Sunday.
Justin Ross Harris smiles with his son Cooper.
The judge decided that pretrial publicity had made it difficult to find impartial jurors in Cobb County, outside Atlanta, and agreed to move the trial to Brunswick on the Georgia coast.
Cooper’s mother, Leanna Taylor, testified in his defense, arguing that Harris did not intentionally kill his child that day. Fox 5 Atlanta.
During cross-examination, Ms Taylor said Mr Harris had “destroyed” her life.
Click here to get the FOX News app
“I feel humiliated. I may never trust anyone again. After today, I don’t care if I never see him again,” she told Fox 5.
She filed for divorce in 2016.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
