Lawyer says mother has been cleared in hot car death of Cooper Harris as she speaks out for first time on husband’s sexting and says it’s between ‘God and us’
- Criminal defense attorney Lawrence Zimmerman said Leanna Harris was asked to submit a victims impact statement over the death of her son
- Move suggest she will not charged in the death of 22-month-old Cooper, who was left to die in a scorching SUV for seven hours on June 18
- Prosecutors had previously questioned Harris’ odd behavior in the wake of her son’s death
- At police headquarters she asked her husband whether he had ‘said too much’
- Ross Harris has been charged with child cruelty murder and is being held without bond in Cobb jail
A lawyer for the wife of a Georgia man arrested in the death of their toddler who was left in a overheated SUV believes the woman has been ruled out as a suspect in the murder case. The attorney for Leanna Harris says a victims impact statement has been requested of his client, suggesting prosecutors do not intend to charge her. Her husband, Ross Harris, has been charged with intentionally leaving their son, 22-month-old Cooper, in a hot SUV for seven hours on June 18, killing him. Leanna Harris has since received a grief package to help her deal with her loss, according to WSBTV.
‘Cleared': Attorneys for Leanna Harris believe the victim impact statement sent to her shows that law enforcement are not considering her a suspect death of her son, Cooper, who was left in scorching SUV for seven years
‘In my experience, the district attorney only sends packages like these when they think someone is the victim of a crime,’ attorney Lawrence Zimmerman told WSBTV. ‘That’s what I believe based on what they’ve sent her. ‘This is the most high-profile case in the social media era that Cobb County’s ever had, and the biggest case by far that Vic Reynolds has had since becoming the district attorney. ‘This just didn’t get out by mistake. ‘That doesn’t happen.’ In her statement, Harris said she is still yet to swallow the loss of her son. ‘The death of my son is still unreal,’ she said in the statement. ‘Not a moment goes by when I don’t think about him or what our future would have held. ‘I now live a tortured existence.’
Harris also said that she has been suffering from depression. ‘Some days I completely break down because I miss my baby and my family so much,’ Harris wrote. ‘The rush to judgment by the public and the mainstream media has left me with little confidence in our legal system and our society.’ Also in the statement, Harris stood up for her husband, saying Cooper’s death was accidentally. ‘Ross was a wonderful father, and he loved Cooper with all his heart,’ she wrote. ‘I know without a doubt he would never have knowingly allowed any harm to come to our son.’
Ross Harris has been charged with child cruelty murder and is being held without bond in Cobb jail. Police are still investigating the child’s death. However they maintain Mr Harris intended to kill his son. During a bond hearing on July 3, prosecutors claims Mr Harris was leading a double life. They said he had sent explicit messages to numerous women -including at least one teenager- on the day of Cooper’s death. Investigators had described Mrs Harris’ behavior on the day her son died as odd, if not suspicious. When informed by workers at her son’s day care facility that Cooper had never been dropped off, she calmly responded, ‘Ross must have left him in the car. There’s no other explanation,’ according to Cobb County Police Det. Phil Stoddard’s testimony. Then, when reunited with her husband at police headquarters after he had been charged with murder, Leanna Harris asked him, ‘Did you say too much?’ according to Stoddard. When she called home June 18 with the grim news of Cooper’s death, her mother could be overheard on the phone saying: ‘Why aren’t you crying? Why aren’t you reacting?’ Her response, according to Stoddard: ‘I must be in shock.’ Police had previously disclosed that, like her husband, she had researched children dying in hot vehicles prior to her son Cooper’s death, telling officers it was her ‘worst fear.
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