GA - Suspicion over heat death of Cooper, 22 mo., Cobb County, June 2014, #2

[EGirl]

I'm leaning towards he accidentally left the child in the morning ( somehow ) .... noticed at noon- panicked - googled information but put animals in the search to be "safe" and left the kid in the car for 3-4 more hours trying to figure out what to do and say to his wife and police. Had this been planned ahead of time I think he would have had a much better plan and less of a trail. What goes trough people's minds when they accidentally kill their children and know it could have been avoided had they paid more attention I don't know and hope I never do. He must not have wanted to be seen as responsible. I guess he thought saying Cooper choked and thats what made him pull over then changed it to he left him on accident but didn't notice the smell right away wouldn't change Cooper's
fate but might have taken away the fact he left him for hours before contacting police to report what he had done. This is my opinion based on everything revealed about him and this case. I do not feel he started out the day intent on getting rid of his child.

IMO, the timing of the web search is crucial.

 

[jjenny]

This doesn't fly at all, or he'd have freaked out and called 911. No parent is going to see their kid dead and go back to work If it was unintentional he'd freak out, not calmly close the door and return to work

Doesn't fly with me either. How could someone work after seeing their child dead in the car?

 

[blue22]

just getting home from work and trying like heck to catch up with today's developments.

So - this is puzzling, this trip to chik filet

Hours before the toddler, Cooper Mills Harris, was pronounced dead, he and his father stopped at Chick-fil-A for breakfast, according to an arrest warrant obtained Wednesday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The father then put his son back in a rear-facing car seat in the middle of the backseat and drove to work, less than a mile away, the warrant states.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/cops-cobb-toddlers-death-investigation-continues-t/ngRfn/

Because initial report and timeline have Cooper being fed breakfast at 8:45 that morning at home. So I am thinking dad must have been the only one eating breakfast at the fast food joint at 9?

Unless the bit about Cooper being fed breakfast at home at 8:45 is as inaccurate as the two children in the car stuff that came from the same article.

I've been wondering that, too. Which is why I am very curious about toxicology.

 

[JeannaT]

Well I'm not sure manslaughter is much better. I believe manner of death on a death cert can still reflect homicide opposed to accident. I think it just depends. Regardless he is still responsible for the death. Punishment in these cases vary. A man was just sentenced to 4 years I think. He went into work, worked 4
hours, smoked pot, went to his car for paperwork and realized the
3 month old was still in the car. Associated press did an article in 2007 saying average jail time was a year for dads and 2 -4 for moms. They also said parents tend to get convicted more than baby sitters or family members caring for children. Parents are also known to do more time. These were all manslaughter cases. Felony murder in GA I think faces 25-life no parole or death penalty should the prosecutor feel crime warrants death. Don't quote me on this.... In could be wrong. Just my understanding

I wouldn't think a medical examiner would have any way to determine manner of death in a case like this. Cause of death is hyperthermia - but it would take a jury to determine whether that was accidental or intentional, IMHO.

In some cases, like stabbings, shootings, strangulation, blunt force trauma, etc., a determination of homicide vs. suicide or accidental death can be made but it doesn't seem within the realm of a ME's duty in a case like this - where it's obvious the child died in a hot car in a car seat all day long - whether it was intentionally to kill him, or an oversight by the caregiver.

Anyway, I was certainly waiting with interest to see what would be determined to be "manner of death". I think virtually all of us knew what the COD would be.

 

[absolut_alexis]

I don't understand the hypothermia as COD. That couldn't have happened in the car, could it?

 

[jjenny]

It still doesn't explain why he got in his car and drove a few miles before pulling into the shopping center. If LE says the car smelled that horribly, how and why did he ignore that? If I had a bad odor in my car (and I'm assuming it was quite pungent), I would look around to see what was causing it.

I presume that is exactly why he got arrested right away. It doesn't add up.
If you get into your car and it stinks to high heaven, you are going to look around to see what is causing the horrible stink.

 

[JeannaT]

I don't understand the hypothermia as COD. That couldn't have happened in the car, could it?

Yes. That's what children die of when left in a hot car. Hyperthermia.

Edited to add: I see you misunderstood and wrote "hypothermia". The COD is hyperthermia. Too much heat.

 

[gngr~snap]

Even if he did plan it, things are going his way. Plenty of people believe it was an accident.
Had he called 911from the parking lot, it would have easier for me to believe. That ride from work to Akers Mill and him claiming a baby in rigors caused him to pull over because it was choking??? That's where it becomes criminal to me.
moo

All posts are my opinion only. Sent via Tapatalk

 

[tlcya]

I am also curious how much Cooper weighed and what the weight requirements of his carseat were in regards to when to turn it forward facing.

Because the general accepted age is 2 (24 months) or depending on child's size and weight earlier - carseats usually state the max weight for rear facing.

I am wondering about this because the car make and model and the lack of leg room and general lack of roominess of the interior of that model would seem to suggest a child of almost two who seemed in photos to be of a good healthy size and weight might be awfully crunched in a rear facing seat.

 

[MvD]

He had to have known the baby was in the car when he went there at noon. The child had to be sitting in feces, urine and vomit by then. There's no way he wouldn't have noticed the smell. Think of how bad a soiled diaper smells in and of itself, inert normal ventilated situations..much less a hot enclosed car. Even on the very remote chance he truly forgot the child on the 90 second drive from breakfast, (which i don't believe for a second), his nose would have jarred his memory at lunchtime. And normal parents would be freaking out, grabbing him out of the car to resuscitate, calling for help, etc..

 

[jjenny]

I don't understand the hypothermia as COD. That couldn't have happened in the car, could it?

It is hyperthermia, not hypothermia.

 

[oh_gal]

I don't understand the hypothermia as COD. That couldn't have happened in the car, could it?

It was hyperthermia, not hypothermia. HTH!

 

[tlcya]

I don't understand the hypothermia as COD. That couldn't have happened in the car, could it?

hypothermia is from extreme cold

HYPERthermia is from extreme heat

 

[oh_gal]

The ONLY way I could see him possibly forgetting his child is in the car is if, in the minutes prior to pulling into his parking lot, he'd had some type of close call with another driver or pedestrian, that shook him so badly, he couldn't think straight. But we would have heard if that happened. So...I don't believe he forgot, either.

 

[murphy3k]

I don't understand the hypothermia as COD. That couldn't have happened in the car, could it?

Hyperthermia is the cause of death. That is when you have heat exposure which causes your body temperature to elevate above normal.

Hypothermia is what happens when you have exposure to cold and your body temperature lowers below normal.

 

[CrazytownUSA]

The ONLY way I could see him possibly forgetting his child is in the car is if, in the minutes prior to pulling into his parking lot, he'd had some type of close call with another driver or pedestrian, that shook him so badly, he couldn't think straight. But we would have heard if that happened. So...I don't believe he forgot, either.

If that had happened, you would think he would be even MORE aware of his baby... the first thing you do when you have a child in the car and something like that happens is make sure the baby is okay...

I don't think he forgot either... not in the 2 minutes it took between buckling Cooper in and arriving at work.

 

[x_files]

Fox 5 claims car stunk to high heavens when first responders got there

thanks. I just CANNOT imagine it not stinking.
I know clean babies don't stink but deceased babies literally sweating to death.
Even smell a baby after a crying jag angry or afraid they smell sweaty and it's intense.

 

[Judicious1]

All that felony murder requires is the intent to commit the underlying felony. So if the underlying felony does not require malice, neither does the related felony murdre charge. Think of it this way...if you happen to kill someone while committing a felony, you're automatically guilty of "murder" if you are proven to be guilty of the felony. The law looks at it like -- well, when you decided to commit this felony, you took the chance that someone would end up dead -- and they did, so now you're automatically guilty of that crime, too, and we don't have to prove it separately.

Here's a somewhat easy to read link

http://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ug... it resulted in a death felony murder applies

 

[newone]

If that had happened, you would think he would be even MORE aware of his baby... the first thing you do when you have a child in the car and something like that happens is make sure the baby is okay...

I don't think he forgot either... not in the 2 minutes it took between buckling Cooper in and arriving at work.

your comments echo my sentiments - I would be more inclined to grab my kid and hug him/her even closer to me!

 

[eileenhawkeye]

Even if he did plan it, things are going his way. Plenty of people believe it was an accident.
Had he called 911from the parking lot, it would have easier for me to believe. That ride from work to Akers Mill and him claiming a baby in rigors caused him to pull over because it was choking??? That's where it becomes criminal to me.
moo

All posts are my opinion only. Sent via Tapatalk

The support for him seems to be decreasing significantly in all the recent articles.