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Justin Ross Harris Sentenced to Life in Prison for Toddler Son’s Hot Car Death

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Justin Ross Harris, who was convicted last month of murder for intentionally leaving his 22-month-old son Cooper in a hot SUV to die in 2014, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Monday, December 5, reports the Associated Press.

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Judge Mary Stanley Clark sentenced Harris to life behind bars after a jury convicted him of malice and felony murder last month. The 36-year-old also was sentenced to an additional 32 years, to be served consecutively to the life sentence, after also being found guilty of child cruelty and sexual exploitation of a child, which stemmed from his lewd texts to an underage teenager.

Justin Ross Harris
Justin Ross Harris

Judge Clark told Harris at his sentencing, while referring to his defense claim, that he hoped the case would serve as a warning to other parents about the dangers of leaving children in hot cars: “Perhaps not the way you intended, you in fact have accomplished that goal.”

Related: PHOTOS: Most Infamous Family Murders in History

She added that the jury “fairly deliberated and discharged their duties and found the defendant guilty of what factually was a horrendous, horrific experience for this 22-month-old child who had been placed in the trust of his father. And in violation and dereliction of duty to that child, if not love of that child, callously walked away and left that child in a hot car, in June, in Georgia, in the summer, to swelter and die,” according to a report by ABC News.

Harris’ lawyers insisted that he left his son in the SUV by accident in June 2014. However, prosecutors successfully argued during the trial that Harris intentionally killed the toddler in order to escape his unhappy marriage. 

Cooper was found dead after Harris left him in the SUV for seven hours and went to his office, on a day when temperatures were in the 80s. Harris told police he forgot to drop the boy off at day care that morning and didn’t realize he’d left his son in his rear-facing car seat while he went to work, reports CNN. It was not until driving to a movie theater at around 4 p.m. that day that, Harris claimed, he noticed his son was still in the car, and pulled over to a nearby shopping center, where witnesses said he started screaming, according to CNN.

However, investigators discovered Harris — who was married to Cooper’s mother, Leanna, at the time — had been conducting online and real-life affairs with other women, including with a sex worker and underage teenage girl, the AP reported. The couple finalized their divorce in April, but she testified as a witness for her ex-husband during the trial, and believes her son’s death was a tragic accident.

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