BRUNSWICK, Ga.—After pulling his lifeless son from the car where the toddler had been left sweltering and alone for hours, Justin Ross Harris insisted it had been a fatal accident. Police found the death suspicious — from the short drive during which Harris said he forgot about his son to the fact he returned to his SUV once without noticing the boy.
After a month-long trial and four days of deliberations, a jury Monday sided with authorities and convicted 35-year-old Harris of malice murder — concluding not only that he should be held criminally responsible, but that he left his 22-month-old son, Cooper, to die on purpose.
Harris held a flat stare that showed little emotion as the verdict was read. He was found guilty of all eight criminal counts against him. The malice murder charge alone carries a sentence of life in prison, either with or without the possibility of parole. The trial judge scheduled a sentencing hearing for Dec. 5.
