Authorities claim the dad and mom of a 22-month-old child who died in a hot car in suburban Atlanta both had researched on the Internet the topic of other children dying in hot vehicles.
Authorities have arrested the toddler's father, Justin Ross Harris, on charges of murder and cruelty to children for leaving his son, Cooper, in a hot car where the child died on June 18. Leanne Harris, the child's mother, is now being investigated,
according to affidavits reviewed by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"Leanna Harris, the child’s mother, was also questioned regarding the incident and made similar statements regarding researching in car deaths and how it occurs," the affidavit read.
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Criminal defense attorney Steve Sadow told
WXIA-TV the question of when the couple made the hot-car search inquiries on the Internet could play an important factor.
"We don't know the context or the timing that these searches took place," Sadow told WXIA-TV. "Let's assume there was some event the parents saw several weeks ago dealing with the death of a child and they just decided to go up on the Internet. That's different than if it's 24 to 48 hours before the incident occurred, which makes it look too coincidental."
Justin Ross Harris left his infant son in his car all day under the scorching Georgia sun after having breakfast with the child at a local Chick-fil-A before going to work at an area Home Depot, the Atlanta paper reported.
The father went lunch while child remained in a rear-facing car seat in the backseat of his SUV and told police it wasn't until after he returned to vehicle at the end of his work day that he noticed the boy.
Leanne Harris has stood by her husband since the incident, allowing him to call into the child's funeral Saturday to make comments while he remained in jail, according to WXIA-TV.
"Ross is, was and will be a great daddy," Leanne Harris said at Saturday's funeral, noted the television station.
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