BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) – A Georgia man intentionally left his toddler son to die in a hot SUV as he sought to escape the responsibilities of family life and focus on sexual liaisons with prostitutes and young women – even teenagers – he met online, a prosecutor told jurors as the father’s murder trial opened Monday.
Justin Ross Harris, 35, is charged with malice murder and other crimes in the June 2014 death of his 22-month-old son, Cooper. The case captured national attention two years ago after authorities revealed the father had been sending lewd messages to a woman as his son sweltered for seven hours in a parking lot outside Harris’ metro Atlanta workplace.
Prosecutor Chuck Boring told the jury in his opening statement Monday that Harris sent an online message minutes before locking his door with his son still strapped in his car seat.
Boring said the message read: “I love my son and all, but we both need escapes.”
“Hold this man responsible for trying to escape from one life into another by killing a child in one of the most horrible, unimaginable ways possible,” Boring told the jury.