Small Details that are interesting in the Cooper Harris case, #1

[amymarie]

I never thought the rear-facing car seat was a big deal since the new standard is two years old and my own 20-month old is still rear-facing.

However, at the hearing they revealed that he had already been switched to forward-facing but coincidently, was switched back into a rear-facing seat two weeks prior because the mom took the other car seat on a trip to Alabama. Not only that, but the rear-facing car seat used was too small for Cooper.

This makes me think they must have used his infant seat since there's no way he would have outgrown a regular car seat by 22-months. Most car seats are made to fit up to at least 35 lbs - around 3-4 years old. Which makes me ask the question - does mom not have her own car seat in her car? If she doesn't, then that would mean that Ross had to leave Cooper AND the car seat at daycare each day that Leana was picking him up (which she was doing that day so he should have known he had Cooper still since he still had the car seat). If she does have her own car seat, then why did they take the one out of Ross's car for the trip and put the too-small one into his car instead of the one that usually went into her car?

Not to mention, if she was going on a trip (apparently with cooper since she needed the car seat), then why would Ross need to put the too-small car seat into his car if cooper was going to be with mom? This whole car seat switching scenario makes NO sense to me.

 

[RainCheck]

I never thought the rear-facing car seat was a big deal since the new standard is two years old and my own 20-month old is still rear-facing.

However, at the hearing they revealed that he had already been switched to forward-facing but coincidently, was switched back into a rear-facing seat two weeks prior because the mom took the other car seat on a trip to Alabama. Not only that, but the rear-facing car seat used was too small for Cooper.

This makes me think they must have used his infant seat since there's no way he would have outgrown a regular car seat by 22-months. Most car seats are made to fit up to at least 35 lbs - around 3-4 years old. Which makes me ask the question - does mom not have her own car seat in her car? If she doesn't, then that would mean that Ross had to leave Cooper AND the car seat at daycare each day that Leana was picking him up (which she was doing that day so he should have known he had Cooper still since he still had the car seat). If she does have her own car seat, then why did they take the one out of Ross's car for the trip and put the too-small one into his car instead of the one that usually went into her car?

Not to mention, if she was going on a trip (apparently with cooper since she needed the car seat), then why would Ross need to put the too-small car seat into his car if cooper was going to be with mom? This whole car seat switching scenario makes NO sense to me.

I have a HUGE problem with this too! The fact they knew he had outgrown the infant seat and purchased the correct seat for him 6 weeks ago, but then two weeks ago turned him back around in his old infant seat! It was dangerously too small for him with his head two to three inches above the seat. With all their researching, I don't believe they didn't know how unsafe it was. In fact, didn't that state at the hearing RH knew perfectly well the limits for the car seat and how to operate it properly? Why in the world would the shoulder straps be on the lowest setting which fits a newborn? It makes it seems even more obvious this was no accident!

 

[sariebell]

So, @amymarie, what is your take on this:

He supposedly popped the back door up on the SUV to remove Cooper from his child seat. Perhaps I mis-read that, but I'm curious... is that how you'd get a kid out of the rear-facing seat in the back seat... through the back hatch?

 

[rabidstoat]

If you were to place light bulbs in a car, wouldn't you pop the trunk and place them in, or choose any other door than the driver's to place them in a floorboard, etc??? A small detail, the choice of the driver's door, but very strange to me.

This makes sense to me (if you ignore the fact that he left his child to die in the back seat, I mean).

I keep heavy things in my trunk: kitty litter, 12-packs of soda, packs of bottled water, laundry detergent, etc. Sometimes I'll leave them in there for days until I finally move them inside. So I never put anything fragile in the trunk, fearing it would get broken.

Why the driver's side? First off, that's just where most people head out of habit when approaching their car. Secondly, the little car clicker thingie on my car (when it worked) opened just the driver's side door on the first click, further conditioning me to go there. If I were dropping off lightbulbs at my car, I would probably open the driver's side door, and swing them gently onto the passenger seat.

 

[sariebell]

STODDARD: When the defendant pulled over at the Akers Mill, he pulled directly into the shopping center, Akers Mill Shopping Center and parked his car in the middle of the roadway. He exited his vehicle and popped up the rear door to his vehicle. He entered into the rear door, removed Cooper from the car seat, removed Cooper from the car seat and placed him on the pavement next to the vehicle. He got down next Cooper.

This is the part I keep obsessing over. Does anyone else think this is odd?

 

[RainCheck]

STODDARD: When the defendant pulled over at the Akers Mill, he pulled directly into the shopping center, Akers Mill Shopping Center and parked his car in the middle of the roadway. He exited his vehicle and popped up the rear door to his vehicle. He entered into the rear door, removed Cooper from the car seat, removed Cooper from the car seat and placed him on the pavement next to the vehicle. He got down next Cooper.

This is the part I keep obsessing over. Does anyone else think this is odd?

Are they saying he removed him through the hatch back or the rear passenger door? It is a little confusing!

 

[sariebell]

I assume that "popped up" means the hatch back. Maybe that was to let some heat and odor out. I just wondered, because I have very little experience with kids and carseats, but going in through the back seems crazy to me.

 

[princesslisa]

I wonder if the low T thing was responsible for the conception problems, when was the youtube search done again? I thought 2010.

But he clearly had labido to spare at this point in time or it would seems so. And thanks to the hearing we know he could get an erection.

I am curious if he was telling LH he was still suffering from the effects of the low T to explain a lack of interest in sex with HER because he was having way to much of that need met by his msg activities. For some the risk adds to the allure of that sort of relationship. Its all sex and selfish gratification with none of the intimacy requirements. Harder to actually do teh work of being married and keeping things spicy with that person.

Just something to chew on

He could have been on Viagra in combination with the Androgel to help with the erection issue. MOO.

 

[tlcya]

popped up rear door is an odd phrase IMO because in US we call them hatches (I think, at least in my region)

Was the snipped quote from a UK or AU and that phrase might be used to describe the action I wonder???

 

[oh_gal]

Was it a "mass" email, or a group email? Do we know? I'm still wondering if it was just an email to RH and LH asking where Cooper was. That would still be a group email. Sorry....this was supposed to include the original post. On my kindle...not going to retype!

 

[matou]

So, @amymarie, what is your take on this:

He supposedly popped the back door up on the SUV to remove Cooper from his child seat. Perhaps I mis-read that, but I'm curious... is that how you'd get a kid out of the rear-facing seat in the back seat... through the back hatch?

I heard him say that Ross entered through the rear door to remove Cooper. I also thought that meant the back hatch. I could be wrong. That would look so weird to me but it would explain why the rear passenger doors were both closed. However, the hatch was closed on the scene, wasn't it?

I think we need the video.

 

[GiGi Sleuth]

Why would Cooper be crying when the door opened?

Well my first thought was because the carseat is way too tight and after eating, it becomes more uncomfortable. But there are many reasons an infant could be crying. Maybe it was to keep him from crying as he sees his daddy walk away and just leave him in there.

 

[amymarie]

So, @amymarie, what is your take on this:

He supposedly popped the back door up on the SUV to remove Cooper from his child seat. Perhaps I mis-read that, but I'm curious... is that how you'd get a kid out of the rear-facing seat in the back seat... through the back hatch?

This makes no sense to me because he would have to reach over the back of the seat to get to Cooper. I don't have that type of car so I don't know how tall the seats are but I have a Yukon and it would be very difficult for me to open my back hatch and then reach over the seats to get a kid out of a car seat.

 

[momrids6]

This makes no sense to me because he would have to reach over the back of the seat to get to Cooper. I don't have that type of car so I don't know how tall the seats are but I have a Yukon and it would be very difficult for me to open my back hatch and then reach over the seats to get a kid out of a car seat.

I think we need clarification too. I know Ross is 6'2", but I have a very similar crossover SUV and there is no way I can even touch the top of the back seats with my feet on the ground behind the bumper.

And as for "little things"- he stated "I killed my child"- not son, not Cooper. In fact, there seems to be few to no statements made by either parent using his given name- or even "son". I keep having this horrible thought Cooper's life when not on public display was awful

eta; When 5'7" me drives, I rest my right arm on the console box between the 2 front seats when I'm not shifting (I have a stick shift) Well, for some reason, tonight I realized just how far back my elbow was. My crossover is bigger than his- my elbow would land on Cooper's chest. And my seat is not all the way back like he would have had it- as he is 7 inches taller than I am.

eta 2: My husband is a big man- he touches the console with his side- and has the seat all the way back- even with short arms & shorter than Ross- he would be hitting the heck out of that car seat (and Cooper) with his right arm while driving.

 

[flourish]

Forgive me if this has been answered somehow, but aren't daycares supposed to call parents if the child doesn't show up?

I know the testimony was that JRH rec'd a group e-message from the daycare but did any employee there contact either of the parents when Cooper was a no-show? If not, why not, I wonder. I don't have kids but unless an absence is pre-arranged I thought they all would call ASAP for the child's safety if nothing else.

I teach preschool, it's not always very consistent that we call for absences. Schools can't take on the liability that could come from a...like, universal expectation that they call within an early enough time-frame to prevent any forgotten children from baking in their parent's car. That sounded super snarky and I'm not meaning to be...I just mean schools have a lot going on, and if we add to that the expectation that they call every single time, then some future Ross Harris is gonna sue the school because if they'd have called earlier he would have remembered the baby he left in the car...idk maybe I'm just feeling extra cynical after reading about this guy all day...and I should probably just go to sleep now...but I'm not gonna!

 

[Lyra500]

A small thing in the sense that it is just six words, but one of the things that made this man (and woman) highly suspect in my view:

"I dreaded how he would look"

 

[stmarysmead]

I'm interested in the first conversation these two had, face to face, at the police station. Now, let's remember that they BOTH have been googling hot car deaths, and they claim that this has been their "greatest fear."

Considering the intensity of that supposed interest,fear, and concern....why isn't their conversation immediately about HOW could this happen to our Baby? How could our greatest fear actually befall our child..why aren't they talking about the failure of their precautions. I would expect to hear..." I hate myself for not double checking like we talked about! I can't believe I went there at lunch and never looked!" "I should have called you just to double check on him..." "How could the thing we have feared and researched, actually happen??"

But instead of discussing the failure that led to the horrific death of their baby...it sounds like the conversation was all about Ross...about HOW could Ross have come to be arrested? Their focus on Ross is chilling. Once again, Cooper seems forgotten...just as he was at his funeral.

The first questions should have been about Cooper! How did this thing they feared actually happen to our child? How did their plan to keep their child safe, fail so tragically.

Instead the conversation seems to be about how a part of ANOTHER PLAN failed. Like...why did Ross end up arrested? In this context, LH's statement makes perfect sense..."Did you say too much?"

And, with Ross arrested, and that glitch in their perfect plan...Leanne sets out, IMO, to do some repair work. The funeral is all about getting public opinion on Ross' side and getting this behind them both.

I think they truly expected to be viewed as victims...and victimhood today can mean donations from strangers and celebrity status. I don't think they thought there would be anything but a surface investigation. And they were now both surprised and frightened by the change in events. So, it seems the very first moments together were used to pity themselves for these unexpected glitches, not to pity their own Baby who had literally roasted.

Their first moments were not about how the plan to keep Cooper safe had failed, but how the plan to keep Ross safe, seemed to be failing.

 

[CherCher]

I teach preschool, it's not always very consistent that we call for absences. Schools can't take on the liability that could come from a...like, universal expectation that they call within an early enough time-frame to prevent any forgotten children from baking in their parent's car. That sounded super snarky and I'm not meaning to be...I just mean schools have a lot going on, and if we add to that the expectation that they call every single time, then some future Ross Harris is gonna sue the school because if they'd have called earlier he would have remembered the baby he left in the car...idk maybe I'm just feeling extra cynical after reading about this guy all day...and I should probably just go to sleep now...but I'm not gonna!

Back in the late 1980s and early 90s I was a TA in a Head Start Day Care. It wasn't like regular Head Start in that the children were there for working parents and court ordered day care and it was an all day program. Maybe because it was a federally funded program, but the rules were quite stringent. If a parent didn't call in when their child was absent, we HAD to call them.

 

[Lyra500]

Another interesting thing:

If RH was totally innocent, why did he stop and watch the guy who walked close to his car in the car park at lunchtime? If RH genuinely did not notice Cooper or know he was in the car, then someone walking through the car park would be no big deal would it?

stmarysmead - I agree about their conversation in the police station. If I was LH and totally innocent and unaware I would have been interrogating RH myself. I would have wanted him to recount to me every moment of his time with Cooper and what they did and HOW he could have left him like that. I am afraid I would not have been able to avoid recriminations either - particularly in light of the internet searches and the fact the RH knew how dangerous it was to leave any living creature in a hot car. I would want to know the last things Cooper said, everything. Of course this would all have been after I had been to see my baby.

 

[matou]

I would like to know if Ross wiped/deleted things from his phone during the day and just prior to him stopping the car to take Cooper out.