On the morning of June 18, 2014, Justin Ross Harris told police he forgot to drop off his son, Cooper, at day care and instead drove straight to his job as a web developer for Home Depot.
Harris then went into work without remembering that the toddler was still in his car seat. Cooper died after sitting for about seven hours in the back seat of the vehicle outside his father’s office in Vinings, Georgia, where temperatures that day reportedly reached at least into the high 80s.
On Nov. 14, 2016, Harris was convicted on eight counts, including malice murder, in the death of his 22-month-old son. A judge sentenced him to life without parole, as well as 32 more years in prison for other crimes.
This week, Cox Media Group’s Nicole Bennett had the opportunity to speak with Philip Holloway, legal analyst for 95.5 WSB in Atlanta, about his extensive coverage of the case that began unfolding against Ross Harris in 2014.
>> Listen to the full episode below.
Beyond Criminal Headlines is a true crime podcast where every few weeks, host Nicole Bennett sits down with esteemed journalists from across the industry who’ve covered some of the most notorious crimes in American history. Find the latest ‘Beyond Criminal Headlines’ content on any podcast provider or listen on demand here.
In June of this year, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned the murder and child cruelty convictions against Harris, saying the jury saw evidence that was “extremely and unfairly prejudicial.”
Georgia’s highest court upheld Harris’ convictions on three sex crimes committed against a 16-year-old girl that Harris had not appealed, according to CBS News.
The 6-3 majority opinion says that the jury “heard and saw an extensive amount of improperly admitted evidence.” According to both The Associated Press and CBS News, the opinion added 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)?’ Read more here.
Jurors in Harris’ 2016 trial reportedly heard from a total of 70 witnesses, 52 of whom testified for the prosecution. The jury in Glynn County, located about 60 miles south of Savannah, deliberated for four days before finding Harris guilty of all eight counts against him.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.