News

Witness in hot car death trial: 'It's not something you ever forget'

GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. — A crime scene technician was the first witness to take the stand on day three of the Ross Harris hot car death trial.

Harris is accused of intentionally leaving his 22-month-old son, Cooper, in a hot car for more than seven hours. Harris is facing multiple murder charges and cruelty to children.

Channel 2's Ross Cavitt and Carl Willis are in Brunswick, where the trial is being held. They will have updates from inside the courtroom throughout the day on Channel 2 Action News.

Cobb County crime scene technician Brad Shumpert was on the scene the day Cooper died. Shumpert says he was responsible for photographing and processing the scene that day. That included taking photos of Cooper Harris' body.

"Photographs tell the story and I took a lot of them for this case," Shumpert said. %

INLINE

%

Shumpert says Harris was already in the back of a patrol car by the time he arrived. He had no contact with Harris.

The prosecution began Shumpert’s testimony by having him walk jurors through crime scene photos he took that day. Those photos showed where Cooper’s car seat was positioned in Harris car as well as photos of Cooper’s body.

"As a 6-foot-tall man, when you were standing within the door frame of the vehicle with your eyes could you see that car seat?" Assistant District Attorney Jesse Evans asked. "I could." Shumpert responded.

He said Cooper’s body was lying on the very hot pavement.

”There are many other places I would've placed a child,” Shumpert said during his testimony.

Harris teared up and looked away as prosecutors showed video Shumpert took of the scene and Cooper's body that day. %

INLINE

%

"He has some scratches that appeared on the face. He was wearing a shirt that had bicycles on it and wearing tennis shoes," Shumpert testified. "The back of his back was wet and you could actually see the wetness in the back of his blue shorts."

Several jurors also wept as the pictures of dead child were displayed on a big screen.

Shumpert said it appeared the child had been dead for a while.

Witnesses take the stand

During afternoon testimony, three witnesses who were on the scene that day took the stand.

Artiyka Eastland, Ashleigh Womack and Dale Hamilton were all at nearby restaurants when Harris pulled into the parking lot and pulled Cooper from the car.

All three said they ran toward Harris' car.

Eastland appeared to have a hard time remembering the details of that day. The defense asked her about statements she made to a detective in a recorded phone call and she said, "I don't remember saying that at all."

The defense then sent Eastland out of the courtroom to re-listen to that statement she made to police in July 2014. Upon returning, Eastland says she did say that Harris was doing CPR and yelling for someone to call for help. She also says she did tell the detective that nothing seemed suspicious.

Womack recalled a different scene, however, saying Harris never attempted CPR and never yelled for anyone to call for help. Hamilton’s testimony was similar. %

INLINE

%

Womack and Hamilton both said after Harris walked away he never came back toward his son, something they described as odd.

"I thought it was odd a parent wouldn't be on the ground with his child," Womack said.

"If it were my child I would probably react a little differently. I'd shed tears and I probably wouldn't have put him on the hot asphalt, hot pavement, as hot as it was. I probably would've been a little more attentive but again everybody grieves differently," Hamilton said.

Womack said she found it strange that Harris was arrested so quickly on the scene.

When asked about seeing Cooper's body, Womack said, "It's not something you ever forget."

Cobb County officers takes the stand

Two Cobb County officers took the stand after the witnesses.

Officer Lindsay Foglia and Officer Brett Gallimore were patrolling the shopping center when they came upon the scene on June 18, 2014.

Both officers said Harris was not taking the fastest route to the movie theater that day. Foglia, along with the prosecution, insinuated that, instead, Harris went to a more crowded area where people would be outside.

RELATED CONTENT:

Foglia testified that at one point Harris did try to come back to Cooper's side, but she shooed him away because she didn't know who he was. She says he never offered to assist or help with Cooper.

Gallimore testified that he believes Harris was acting on the scene that day.

"Each person is different but there's also consistency in the way each person reacts to things ... and there was no consistency in the way he was acting whatsoever," he said.

Gallimore then got emotional as he talked about wanting to move Cooper's body from the hot pavement or cover his body up. %

INLINE

%

"I even discussed with Officer Foglia like, 'Ok, what if we put him in my car?' and she reminded me, 'Hey this is a crime scene. We can't,'" Gallimore said on the stand.

The defense argued that none of that was in his report. Gallimore said he had no reason to lie about what he saw that day.

Judge Mary Staley announced Wednesday morning that court will be canceled Thursday and Friday because of the incoming hurricane.

Brunswick, where the trial is being held, is in the project path of Hurricane Matthew.

You can watch the entire trial LIVE on WSBTV.com/Ross-Harris-Trial. We will have minute-by-minute coverage as well as a daily summary from the courtroom each day. Like Ross Harris Updates on Facebook and follow @RossHarrisTrial on Twitter for updates throughout the trial.