Cooper Harris’ mother was “confused” and “frantic” when she learned her 22-month-old son was not at the Little Apron daycare when she came to pick him up on June 18, 2014, a former teacher testified Thursday.
At that time, Cooper was dead. His father, Ross Harris, is now on trial for his son's murder. Instead of dropping Cooper off at the daycare that morning, he drove to his office, parked and left his son for seven hours in his Hyundai Tucson. Police say Harris did that intentionally.
The testimony from Michelle Gray, whose job was to stay with the kids until their parents picked them up that day, appeared to be at odds with what police said not long after Harris was charged with his son’s murder.
Lead detective Phil Stoddard has said Leanna Taylor, who is now divorced from Harris, appeared calm upon learning Cooper was not at daycare that afternoon and told a Little Apron employee that Harris must have left their child in his car.
On Thursday, Gray told jurors she found it strange when she saw Taylor show up at Little Apron that afternoon.
“Well, that’s weird, that’s Cooper’s mom,” Gray testified, recalling her thoughts.
“What are you doing here?” Gray said she asked Taylor. “Cooper’s not here.”
Taylor couldn’t understand what was happening either.
“She was confused, she was frantic,” Gray testified.
“It was clear to you it was a surprise to her Cooper was not there?” Maddox Kilgore, Harris’ lawyer, asked.
“Yes,” Gray replied, adding that she told later told police that Taylor had been surprised.
Gray also noted that Cobb police apparently believed that Harris had called her after he pulled over into the Akers Mill shopping center that day at sometime after 4 p.m. According to telephone records, Harris called the phone in Gray’s room at Little Apron and had a six-minute conversation.
But Gray insisted repeatedly that she never received any such call that day.
Kilgore, reminding Gray of her interview with police a few weeks after Cooper’s death, noted police got aggressive with her when asking about that call.
Police warned her she could be charged for making a false statement and they also asked her whether she was in a relationship with Harris. Gray said she was having no such relationship and said she was telling the truth.
“I was frustrated, because I know I didn’t pick up the phone,” she said.
Testimony in the case ended early, before the lunch break on Thursday. Testimony will resume on Friday.
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