BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) – The ex-wife of a Georgia man charged with murder after their toddler son died in a hot SUV shed tears for her boy on the witness stand Monday while testifying that her former husband would not have left him to die on purpose.
Leanna Taylor told a jury she tried to be strong for Justin Ross Harris after learning on June 18, 2014, that their only child was dead after Harris left the boy in his car’s back seat all day after driving to work.
“I knew he was never going to forgive himself,” Taylor testified, adding that she knew Harris didn’t leave their son intentionally.
Her testimony as a defense witness for Harris, 35, contradicts the case prosecutors have spent weeks trying to build: that Harris meant to kill his 22-month-old son, Cooper. Prosecutors say Harris, who is charged with felony murder, wanted to escape the responsibilities of family life as he spent his time seeking sexual relationships both online and in person with women outside his marriage.
Taylor, who divorced Harris earlier this year and went back to using her maiden name, acknowledged they had problems in their marriage dealing with sex. He had told her years earlier he frequently watched pornography and they sought counseling. She also had caught him sending text messages to other women, but testified she did not know he was meeting some of them for sex.