Justin Ross Harris, the father of a 22-month-old toddler who died from being left inside a hot car for hours, is found guilty of murder. He was found to have intentionally left his boy inside the car to die while he went to his work at Home Depot.
People reported that Justin Ross Harris was found guilty of eight felony counts in the death of his son, Cooper Harris. Some of the charges were malice murder, cruelty to children, and criminal attempt to commit a felony. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges that's why he may face the possibility of spending life in prison.
The trial took place for 22 days and 70 witnesses were called to the stand. Aside from purposefully leaving Cooper Harris inside the car to die, it was also found out that Justin Ross Harris was exchanging sexual text messages to six different females during the day that his son died. One of the females he exchanged messages with is said to be 16 years old.
It was also found out during the investigation that Justin Ross Harris searched on his computer how to kill someone in a hot car, what the needed temperature is for someone to die in a hot car and how to survive in prison. He also reportedly looked at websites that showed child-free lifestyles. Cooper Harris died of hyperthermia as his body overheated due to the temperature reaching 90F during the day he died.
Justin Ross Harris admitted that he did leave his son in the car but claimed that it was an accident because he just forgot to drop his son off at day care. He noted that he typically drives his son to day care before he gets something to eat but the day that his son died, he had breakfast, placed his son in his car and forgot that he was still there.
Investigators, however, are saying that surveillance video showed Justin Ross Harris returning to his car after lunch in order to drop off some light bulbs. BBC also reported that Justin Ross Harris might have wanted to kill his son because he wanted to leave his family in order to continue his affairs with other women.
It remains unclear what the motive behind the killing is. The wife of Justin Ross Harris divorced him but said during the trial that she believes he would never harm their son. Justin Ross Harris will be sentenced later but no date is available yet.
