MARIETTA, Ga. — More than two months after his son’s death in a hot car, a Georgia man who prosecutors say sat in his office exchanging nude photos with women while his son languished for hours was charged with murder Thursday.
A Cobb County grand jury indicted Justin Ross Harris on multiple charges, including malice murder, felony murder and cruelty to children. The malice murder charge indicates that prosecutors intend to prove Harris intentionally left his son Cooper in the hot car to die.
The eight-count indictment also includes charges related to sexually explicit exchanges prosecutors say Harris had with an underage girl.
Harris will be arraigned in the next few weeks, and Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds said he will decide before then whether to seek the death penalty. Harris has been in jail since his arrest the day his 22-month-old son died.
Harris’ attorney, Maddox Kilgore, said his client is devastated after losing his son, his livelihood and freedom. Kilgore said the state has introduced several inconsistent theories about a potential motive in the boy’s death, which his client maintains was unintentional.
“The truth is Cooper’s death was a horrible, gut-wrenching accident,” Kilgore said Thursday. “It was always an accident and when the time comes and we work through the state’s maze of theories at trial, it’s still going to be a terrible, gut-wrenching accident.”
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