A father who was charged with the murder of his 22-month-old boy, who died after spending about seven hours in a parked car on a hot day, was reportedly released on Father’s Day.
Ten years almost to the day after the death of his son Cooper on June 18, 2014, Justin Ross Harris was reportedly released Sunday from the state prison in Macon, Georgia, where he had been staying since December 2016, “The Independent” reported Tuesday.
The man from Alabama was found guilty of murdering the baby whom he maintained had only forgotten in his vehicle during his shift, even though he was normally supposed to drop him off at daycare.
The boy spent around seven hours in the cabin of the Hyundai Tucson, where temperatures reached at least 80 degrees inside, before succumbing to the heat, according to the British media.
Except that during his highly publicized trial at the time, prosecutors accused the father of intentionally leaving his son in the vehicle because he was unhappy in his marriage.
They also presented the jury with evidence of extramarital sexual activities, including explicit photos exchanged with women and underage girls, claiming that he was cheating on his partner.
The jury found him guilty of cruelty to a child and malicious murder, which earned him a life sentence. The man was also found guilty on five other counts, including three of sex crimes against a 16-year-old girl, earning him an additional 32 years in prison.
However, his convictions for murder and cruelty were overturned in June 2022, after the Georgia Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on the fact that the jury members would have had access to “extremely and unfairly prejudicial” evidence during the trial, according to the British media.
The defendant’s lawyers, for their part, maintained that the toddler’s death was only a tragic accident, without motivation.
Thus, Justin Ross Harris would have continued to serve his sentence for his sexual crimes, which he would not have contested on appeal, until his release on Sunday, Father’s Day.
