<p>@jym626 He did go inside and they have video of him and the child. The child was walking and alert. The father even recounted to the police how he strapped Copper into the car seat and kissed him before leaving Chick-fil-a.</p>
<p>Thanks 3scoutsmom. That’s what I thought- that he went in. So when it was suggested he went through the drive thru I was confused. </p>
<p>According to my DH, many of the HD IT guys are contractors these days. They have cut back on FTEs </p>
<p>^ I think he is an employee because if he is a contractor why would HD pay for his child’s funeral? Also they have stated that HD has put him on unpaid leave.I would think that if he was a contractor HD would have stated that for PR reasons by now…</p>
<p>I think that the strongest points in favor of this being an accident are that (1) he took his son out to breakfast and (2) he spent the day sexting. The story about having forgotten his son would be more believable if he “forgot” during a longer ride to work from home rather than a very short ride from CFA to HD. Not that it would be really believable, as others have pointed out, forgetting usually happens on days where the routine is changed. I don’t understand how anyone with a functioning brain would not expect his phone and online activity to be examined after the death of his child. And he apparently knew enough about the criminal justice system to use the “malice” phrase. How could anyone be so stupid!</p>
<p>About the day-care center’s email - I thought I read somewhere that it was a group email, something sent to all parents, rather than an email specific to the child’s absence that day.</p>
<p>The “sexting” is a crime in itself, isn’t it? </p>
<p>I think sexting is only a crime when a minor is involved. However it seems he was doing that with a minor so yes it would be a crime.</p>
<p>Yes, it was more than one underaged girl. </p>
<p>I’m not sure if sexting another adult is a crime but involving a minor sure is! I really don’t think he (they) thought they would be treated as murder suspects. I think they thought everyone would be sympathetic towards them and just take their story at face value. </p>
<p>He <em>backed</em> into the parking space at work, the child’s head would have been clearly visible when he turn to look and could be seen in the rear view mirror, he had to turn to pick up his computer bag from the passenger seat another chance to notice that the kid was in the car. He went back to the car at lunch and put a shopping bag of light bulbs in the car (something he left out in the original police report) and he still doesn’t notice his kid’s in the car? He doesn’t notice his dead son in the car when he gets in to go to the movies but somehow after he has already left the parking lot and is driving he notices the his son is in the car seat? </p>
<p>And how about the unlikelihood of any 2 year old staying quiet in the car? Most 2 year olds are chattering away to the parent behind the wheel. So, so sad for this young boy.</p>
<p>^^ Totally agree, I think that’s the reason he made a point mentioning he is deaf in one ear but that doesn’t explain why he didn’t hear his child out of his other ear! </p>
<p>CNN is reporting that mom spoke at the funeral, saying she was happy he’d miss heartbreaks like her death, middle school, …and that she wouldn’t want him back because it would be selfish to have him in a broken world.</p>
<p>There are no words and no place hot enough.</p>
<p>Good point - when my sons were toddlers they talked nonstop. I remember a friend saying, “You wait and wait for them to learn to talk, and then you wonder if they will ever be quiet!” </p>
<p>The car seat was facing the back, so the boy’s face wouldn’t have been visible.
My youngest barely could stand being in a car seat facing backward when she was an infant,( too boring- I did put a big mirror against the seat for her to look at though).
I can’t imagine a toddler putting up with that.
Or really even staying in the seat.
Mine also used to climb out when they weren’t much older. He must have been unusually placid/&/or he was strapped in so tightly he couldn’t move.</p>
<p>Deaf and can’t smell anything? Tomorrow we will find out he is legally blind, too.</p>
<p>So the car seat is in the middle back and rear facing. He backed into the space. I wonder if he always does this or if backing in was only that day. It would be very difficult for anyone to see this baby in the car from the outside in this situation. I’m not sure of the car but in pics it looks like it may be a Honda SUV with a small back window. Were the windows tinted? It sure looks like it. I’d like to know this.</p>
<p>Picture of car</p>
<p><a href=“picture justin ross car - Google Search”>picture justin ross car - Google Search;
<p>Yes, he was strapped in very tightly, the straps were in were at the lowest position even though he was too big for the car seat. The investigators put a manikin in the seat that was the size of the boy and the back of his head was clearly visible over the top of the car seat. </p>
<p>Now officials are saying that they cannot confirm that Leanne Harris was currently working for anyone (from home or otherwise.)</p>
<p>The paper also stated there were student loans and car loans along with the $4000 credit card balance.</p>
<p>Wondering how the father knew that Cooper could not unbuckle himself from the carseat. Most 2 year olds could figure that out. Perhaps that is the evidence police are withholding. Maybe they found something suggesting his hands were tied. It was the father who took him out of the carseat once he “discovered” him. So he could have discarded something. Or perhaps that is what he did at lunch when he went to the car? Maybe they found marks on his wrists or something of that nature. I know they are still waiting on the toxicology reports to determine if Cooper was given anything to make him sleep.</p>
<p>I find it highly suspicious that they were using a rear facing car seat that day anyway. How convenient. </p>
<p>At one year old, both my kids chattered nonstop. They could each escape from the car seat at that age as well. They made sure they were never far from my mind and car seat faced front from about 6 months or so because that was how the seats were designed. The car seat was generally placed in the middle of the backseat and clearly visible, especially when you backed up. As a parent, it was much more convenient putting the kids in the car seat when the seat faced front anyway.</p>
<p>This case is just so very sad and troubling on all levels. How can you “forget” a child you just had breakfast with .2 miles ago? It makes no sense. </p>
<p>Even if you are deaf in one ear, you can still hear a child chattering, especially one you love. My folks have hearing aids but can still hear their grandchild when he says anything, whether or not they are wearing their hearing aids. My beloved inlaws were also hard of hearing but could still hear my kids when they were little.</p>
<p>I’m sorry if I missed this but did he park in the general area where he usually parked ? Or a more remote area than usual? I did see where he backed in . In a busy parking lot, I would wonder if anyone could have heard the little boy crying. It’s all too awful to think about in terms of what the child went through at the end.</p>
<p>Not only would I like to know if he usually backs in to park, I’d like to know if this is the area he usually parks in too. People tend generally park in the same area. He parked in the back and picked a space that had a car on one side and a grassy open area on the other. I have to wonder if he picked this area because there would be less people to potentially discover his son or worse, that he picked a spot next to the grassy open area so that the car would be in direct sunlight, not shaded by having a car on both sides. Not that I think that little bit of shade would have made a difference… </p>