Father who left his child in car, charged with murder, no bond

[RoryTee]

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local...-murder/ngNzp/


''COBB COUNTY, Ga. — The man who is accused of leaving his child in a hot car has been charged with murder.
Justin Ross Harris was charged with felony murder and cruelty to children in the first degree. He was being held with no bond Thursday.
According to Cobb County police, Harris was supposed to take his 22-month-old to day care around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Police said the father forgot and left his child inside his vehicle while he went to work.

Apparently, he forgot the child was in the car seat in the back of the automobile and went to work, left work sometime around 4 or 4:15, said Sgt. Dana Pierce of the Cobb County Police Department.

Dale Hamilton witnessed the emotional scene as a father realized that his child was in the car.

"I wish I could have done something but there's nothing that could be done," Hamilton said.

After leaving work and making the discovery, the father pulled into Akers Mill Square near Cumberland Mall.

"Laid his son on the ground, started doing CPR trying to resuscitate him. Apparently the child wasn't responding," Hamilton said.

Police said the man had to be physically restrained once it became clear his child was gone.

"There were a number of witnesses, passersby in the area who observed basically the father in a very distressed moment," Pierce said.

"He kept saying, ‘What have I done? What have I done?’ And that's all that I could ascertain that he was saying," Hamilton said.

The child was pronounced dead at the scene.''

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Completely fucked up story that has really got me in the grey area , Is the charge of murder justified in this?

[Dendrek]

Cruelty in the first degree implies intent to cause harm. It's possible he did intend it, but all indications are it was a careless accident. That charge can't possibly stick without motive, can it?

[Al Gorefiend]

Murder? There was clearly no intent.

[anaxie]

This made me sad

[Deleted]

nah nah that was manslaughter at best

[Crissi]

WHat I read, was apparently opening the car door to put an item inside, then closing it and going back inside is enough qualification for intent to harm.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...e-says-n140491

"During lunch said accused (Harris) did access the same vehicle through the driver's side door to place an object into the vehicle," the warrant said. "Said accused then closed the door and left the car, re-entering his place of business."

[Collegeguy]

Ya, idk. I think the prosecution might be just asking to lose or get thrown out. Should be involuntary manslaughter I believe.

[Deleted]

WHat I read, was apparently opening the car door to put an item inside, then closing it and going back inside is enough qualification for intent to harm.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...e-says-n140491

"During lunch said accused (Harris) did access the same vehicle through the driver's side door to place an object into the vehicle," the warrant said. "Said accused then closed the door and left the car, re-entering his place of business."

well what if he didn't see it

[Crissi]

well what if he didn't see it

Not arguing for or against it. Just stating the cops justification for it. If he didnt notice the kid before he entered the first time, then its possible he didnt notice it the second time because after a few hours, the kid was probably passed out so wouldnt have made noise.

[dez1216]

well what if he didn't see it

I know I don't look in my backseat if I'm just grabbing something from my front seat =/

[Immitis]

this is all the proof of global warming we need. back in my day a kid could stay in a car all week and be fine as long as you left them some lunchables and a poptart

[Wyrt]

That's 3rd degree murder unless they can prove intent.

[Al Gorefiend]

this is all the proof of global warming we need. back in my day a kid could stay in a car all week and be fine as long as you left them some lunchables and a poptart

Clever joke, but the victim is a year old.

[diddle]

He might be dumber, but the prosecutors are far worse humans than he is. He will live with this accident for the rest of his life.

[chazus]

He clearly didn't intend to. However I feel negligence of this degree falls under "You intended to because you can't seriously be that stupid to do it by accident"

I know it doesn't seem like a sound argument, but seriously, you can't be that stupid to do it by accident, and if you ARE, then really all bets ought to be off for a fair punishment.

[Immitis]

Clever joke, but the victim is a year old.

even more proof, when i was a year old all i needed was a juice box and a he-man

[Jakexe]

I'm not a father but I can't imagine how you can forget a child. That seems like a pretty important thing to never forget. If I can manage to never leave my glasses in my car I would like to think a parent would not forget their progeny.

OT: Tragic but it's a bit of a stretch to claim murder however his actions led to the death of his child so some form of repercussion is needed.

[Sykol]

He clearly didn't intend to. However I feel negligence of this degree falls under "You intended to because you can't seriously be that stupid to do it by accident"

I know it doesn't seem like a sound argument, but seriously, you can't be that stupid to do it by accident, and if you ARE, then really all bets ought to be off for a fair punishment.

Yeah, there's no way you can leave your kid in the car all day without realizing it, especially if you revisited the car at some point. I don't know about anyone else, but I'd double and triple check every time to make sure I didn't forget my kid in the backseat, even if I was sure I didn't. But I find it hard to believe he didn't once look back and check the car seat on the drive to work. That's just bad parenting, regardless of what else he had going on.

[DEATHETERNAL]

If I had done that, I'd hope for the death penalty. Living with that is going to destroy him as surely as leaving the kid in the car killed the kid.

[Deleted]

my dad forgot to pick me up after school (on the way home from his job)... luckily he remembered it quickly, like 2 hours. sometimes exhaustion does that to your brain, you just go onto autopilot.