After Justin Ross Harris and his 22-month-old son Cooper left breakfast at the Chick-fil-A that day, how long did it take Harris to forget that Cooper was in the car?

When Harris opened his car door after noon to throw something into the front seat, shouldn’t he have noticed the body of his son in the rear seat?

Even hours after Cooper’s body was removed from the SUV later that day, could investigators still smell the stench of decomposition in the vehicle?

Police have definitive answers for each of these questions. But in Episode 2 of our podcast “Breakdown – Death in a Hot Car: Mistake or Murder?” AJC legal affairs writer Bill Rankin comes up with some different answers altogether.

You can listen to Rankin breaking down the case here, or download the program at the podcast section of the iTunes Store (or your favorite podcast app).

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A member of a metro Atlanta Fire Department and his children place their hands on the casket of fallen DeKalb firefighter Preston Fant during a memorial service for Fant at Truist Park on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Atlanta. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Credit: Hyosub Shin / Hyosub.Shin@ajc.com

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Julian Conley listens during opening statements in his trial at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. The 25-year-old is accused of fatally shooting 8-year-old Secoriea Turner in July 2020. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com