The former wife of Ross Harris ended her testimony Tuesday morning with a dramatic flourish, telling jurors the defendant in the hot car murder trial ruined her life.
» Hot car death trial live stream: Watch Harris' friends and coworkers take the stand.
Leanna Taylor, who divorced Harris earlier this year, said she hasn’t communicated with him since then and disclosed she recently moved to northern Alabama to be closer to her new boyfriend.
“He destroyed my life,” Taylor said, glaring at her ex-husband, who largely avoided eye contact. “I’m humiliated. I may never trust anyone again.”
On Monday, Taylor testified that she did not believe Harris intentionally left their 22-month-old son Cooper inside a hot car to die. Lead prosecutor Chuck Boring, aiming to prove she didn't know her husband as well as she thought, peppered her with a series of probing questions that left Taylor in tears.
Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark agreed to an early break after Taylor grew increasingly emotional. When testimony resumed, Boring tried to explain why his tough cross examination was necessary, telling Taylor, “I have to explore (these things) to see what you did and didn’t know.”
Boring asked, for example, if she was aware Harris was using Craigslist to set up sexual meetings with men and women?
Taylor acknowledged she was unaware of the scope of Harris’ extramarital pursuits.
“I would agree that’s a part of his personality that he did not share with me,” she said.
Boring also asked Taylor about testimony that police refused to disclose details about her son’s whereabouts in the hours after his death. She was told Cooper’s body was at the Cobb Medical Examiner’s Office, Boring said, contradicting Taylor’s testimony that previous day.
She said she didn’t recall, an answer she repeated frequently under cross examination.
Taylor, once considered a suspect by investigators due largely to the lack of emotion she showed after Cooper’s death, has a complicated relationship with the state. When asked by defense attorney Maddox Kilgore why she refused to talk with Cobb police, Taylor responded, “I didn’t find them very trustworthy.”
Return for updates.
About the Author
