Justin Ross Harris verdict: Guilty of all charges
Justin Ross Harris intended to kill his 22-month-old son Cooper when he left him locked in the back of his SUV for roughly seven hours, a Glynn County jury concluded Monday.
Harris was convicted on all eight counts at around 3 p.m. today.
Harris' defense contended he thought he had dropped Cooper off at daycare before reporting to work on June 18, 2014, at Home Depot's Treehouse office location in Cobb County. Father and son had just finished breakfast at Chick-fil-A about four minutes earlier.
“I’m not up here saying he wasn’t conflicted about it,” lead prosecutor Chuck Boring said in his closing argument. Harris “probably vacillated” about whether he was going to kill Cooper and only “pulled the trigger” when the right moment presented itself.
Boring steadfastly held onto his theory that Harris killed Cooper so he could be free of his family and sleep with as many people as possible.
“Of course, this child was a burden and in the way,” Boring said. By carrying out the murder, “he doesn’t have to worry about his child anymore.”
Harris faces multiple life sentences in prison. Jurors found him guilty on all eight counts — malice murder, two counts of felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children, second-degree cruelty to children, sexual exploitation of children and two counts of disseminating harmful material to minors.
Sentencing will follow.
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About the Authors
A native Atlantan, Boone joined the AJC staff in 2007. He quickly carved out a niche covering crime stories, assuming the public safety beat in 2014. He's covered some of the biggest trials this decade, from Hemy Neuman to Ross Harris to Chip Olsen, the latter of which was featured on Season 7 of the AJC's award-winning "Breakdown" podcast.
Bill Rankin has been an AJC reporter for more than 30 years. His father, Jim Rankin, worked as an editor for the newspaper for 26 years, retiring in 1986. Bill has primarily covered the state’s court system, doing all he can do to keep the scales of justice on an even keel. Since 2015, he has been the host of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast.
