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Source: Cobb father knew child was left in hot car

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Sources tell Channel 2 Action News there is evidence that a Cobb County father knew his son was left in the back of his car. The child died after several hours in the hot vehicle.

Late Tuesday afternoon, investigators and prosecutors gathered at the Cobb County Police Department to go over some of the evidence in the murder case.

Seven hours later, when he was heading home, Harris claims he realized his 22-month-old son, Cooper, had been left in the car.

Channel 2's Jodie Fleischer broke new developments in the case on Twitter just after 5 p.m. Tuesday.

"Sources tell me there is evidence Cobb father Justin Ross Harris knew his son was left in the hot car," she wrote in a Tweet.

http://twitter.com/jodiewsb/status/481543636828848128

The new developments have left many who witnessed the incident wondering what they saw.

Artikya Eastland told Channel 2's Ross Cavitt she saw Harris abruptly pull his SUV into the parking lot of a small strip mall and pull the lifeless body of his small child from the back of the vehicle.

"He just screamed, ‘What have I done,’ loudly. Obviously it was a bit dramatic. He had his hand up in the air, up towards the sky. ‘What have I done,’ type of thing,” Eastland said.  “That I won’t forget for a while.”

Prosecutors met Tuesday to look at that SUV again, Cavitt reported. They would not comment on their findings.

Eastland said everyone thought it was a terrible accident.

“He was, like I said, yelling ‘What have I done.’ Then he would calm down, be really relaxed and then he would do the whole ‘What have I done,’ thing again," Eastland said.

Eastland isn’t sure if Harris’ emotions were sincere or a cover.

“As far as what exactly happened, why it happened, that I don’t know,” Eastland said. “I’m hoping at the minimum of course that it was an accident. But I really don’t know how to answer that one.”

Harris is charged with murder. He is being held without bond.

A funeral will be held for Cooper Harris on Saturday in Alabama.

Stay with WSBTV.com and the Channel 2 Action News Nightbeat at 11 for the latest in this developing story.