A Georgia father who had his murder conviction overturned in connection with the 2014 death of his son, Cooper Harris, has been released from jail.
As reported by FOX 5 Atlanta, Justin Ross Harris was released from the Cobb County Jail on June 16, having served his sentence related to “distribution of obscene materials to a minor.”
Harris entered the jail on June 16, 2024, to finish the remaining part of his sentence for sex crime convictions dating back to 2016. Prior to his transfer to Cobb County, he had spent 10 years of a 12-year sentence in state prison.
According to CrimeOnline, in 2022, Chief Justice David E. Nahmias of the Georgia Supreme Court overturned Harris’ convictions for malice murder and first-degree child cruelty. This decision followed a hearing where defense attorneys presented their arguments for why the original convictions were considered unjust.
The sex crimes convictions happened after he sent sexually charged messages to a teen girl via a dating site in 2016. His 12-year sentence on the sexual exploitation charges meant, despite the murder conviction reversal, he had to remain behind bars for a year.
The case grabbed the nation’s attention in 2014, when Harris, who worked at the Vinings Home Depot headquarters as a web designer, left Cooper inside a Hyundai Tucson in the office’s parking lot and walked into work.
Later that afternoon, Harris pulled his SUV over into the Akers Mill Square shopping center on Cobb Parkway and began screaming as he pulled Cooper from the vehicle.
According to witnesses, Harris attempted CPR, although it was apparent Cooper was already deceased. A bystander also attempted CPR, but later testified he could tell Cooper was dead.
“Justin was witnessed yelling, ‘Oh my god, what have I done,’” the warrant read. “He then began doing CPR on the child. EMS responded to the scene. It was obvious that the child was deceased.”
According to Harris, he forgot to drop his son off at daycare and didn’t notice Cooper inside the vehicle until he left work around 4:15 p.m.
During the 2016 trial, prosecutors focused on Harris’s sexual misconduct with underage girls and how he sent text messages to someone while Cooper remained trapped inside the vehicle.
Jurors heard testimony from eight women who had contact with Harris. Some had sex with him, while others testified that they exchanged sexually explicit texts and naked photos with him.
Harris didn’t contest his convictions on sexual exploitation of a child but has maintained that his son’s death was a terrible accident.
[Feature Photo: Cooper Harris/Handout]
