Justin Ross Harris, the Georgia father whose murder conviction for the hot-car death of his 22-month-old son was overturned by the state’s Supreme Court in 2022, has been released from prison. Harris was released from Macon State Prison on Father’s Day, nearly a decade after his son, Cooper, tragically died after being left inside a hot car for seven hours on a hot day while his father went to work.
In 2016, Harris was convicted of Cooper’s murder, with prosecutors arguing that he killed his son to escape the burdens of his marriage and fatherhood. However, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned the life sentence in 2022, citing unfair prejudicial impact on the jury due to evidence of Harris’ extramarital relationships.
While the murder charges were nullified, Harris still faces three other counts related to his electronic exchanges of lewd material with an underage girl. He was sentenced to a total of 12 years on those charges, with a maximum release date of June 18, 2024, on the sexual exploitation charge.
After his release from prison, Harris was transferred to the Cobb County Adult Detention Center to serve the remaining two years on the other charges. Cooper’s death and the subsequent trial garnered national attention, as hot-car death cases rarely result in murder charges against grieving parents.
Following the decision not to retry the murder case, Harris’ attorney expressed relief, stating that Cooper’s death was unintentional and not a crime. Cooper’s mother, Leanna Taylor, has maintained that Harris did not intend to harm their child and hopes the ruling will help restore their son’s legacy as a beloved child.
Despite revelations during the trial of Harris’ inappropriate communications with multiple women, Taylor emphasized that Harris was a loving father to Cooper, even though their marriage ultimately failed. The couple has since divorced, but Taylor continues to remember their son as wanted, loved, and deeply missed.
