Georgia man charged with murder in son’s hot car death

MARIETTA, Georgia (AP) — A Georgia man whose toddler son died after he was left in a hot car for seven hours has been charged with murder in a case that has drawn widespread attention amid prosecutors’ claims that he intentionally left the boy alone.

A Cobb County grand jury on Thursday indicted Justin Ross Harris on multiple charges including malice murder, felony murder and cruelty to children. The malice murder charge indicates that prosecutors intend to prove Harris intentionally left his son, Cooper, in the hot car to die.

The eight-count indictment also includes charges related to sexually explicit exchanges prosecutors say Harris had with an underage girl.

The case has attracted enormous national attention from the moment police arrested Harris in a parking lot where he had parked and pulled his 22-month-old son out of his car seat. Harris has told police he was supposed to drive his son to day care the morning of June 18 but drove to work instead and didn’t remember the child was in back until he was driving to a movie after work.

Police have said the toddler was left in the vehicle for about seven hours on a day when temperatures in the Atlanta area reached at least into the high 80s. The medical examiner’s office has said the boy died of hyperthermia — essentially overheating — and has called his death a homicide.