A 19-year-old North Georgia woman testified Friday that murder defendant Ross Harris asked her to send him photos of her private parts while his son was in his office parking lot strapped inside his hot car.
The woman testified she started up an online relationship with Harris in September or October 2013 when she was a 16-year-old high school junior. Their chats eventually turned sexual and continued to be so until the day of 22-month-old Cooper Harris’ death.
Prosecutors contend Harris intentionally killed his son so he could live a single life and have sex with as many women as possible. Harris’ defense lawyers contend Cooper’s death was a horrible accident.
Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark ordered the woman’s identity not to be disclosed by the news media because she was a juvenile at the time she had the Internet relationship with Harris. Prosecutors presented her testimony because the sexually explicit messages and photos Harris sent to her comprise three counts in the indictment against him — one felony and two misdemeanors.
The woman testified Harris reached out to her on the messaging service Whisper after she posted she had enjoyed the book “Fifty Shades of Gray.”
By December, Harris began sending her photos of his genitals and continued to do so in the ensuing months. Lead prosecutor Chuck Boring had the woman identify several photos that Harris sent to her of his genitals and then published them to the jury.
On several occasions, the woman said, she sent him nude photos she’d taken of her breasts.
But Harris wanted to see more. When asked how many times he asked her to send him photos of her genital area, the woman answered, “Countless.”
Harris continued to ask that question up until the day of Cooper’s death at about 2:10 p.m., according to records of their chats. The woman said she never sent such a photo to Harris.
The woman said she was aware that Harris was married and had a son named Cooper. On several occasions, he messaged her photos of his son, she said.
When questioned by Harris’ defense attorney, Maddox Kilgore, the woman said Harris always talked about his son in a good way.
“You never thought he’d do anything to hurt his baby,” Kilgore told the woman.
“No, definitely not,” she answered.
“You never heard Ross say one negative thing about Cooper?” the defense attorney asked.
“Never,” she said.
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