Prosecutors won't seek the death penalty against a Georgia man indicted for murder after leaving his 22-month-old son strapped in a hot car for seven hours.
In the case against Justin Ross Harris, 33, authorities said that he exchanged explicit photos with women online as his son was dying, according to the local district attorney, who announced the news Wednesday.
Harris' defense attorney called his son's death a "horrible accident."
"After reviewing Georgia's death penalty statute and considering other factors, the State will not seek the death penalty in this case at this time," Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Reynolds added that he would not elaborate on how the decision was reached.
A Cobb County grand jury indicted Harris earlier this month on charges that include two counts of felony murder and a count of child cruelty.
Harris was also charged with sexual exploitation. Prosecutors said that he asked a girl to send him "lewd photos," according to Reuters.
Harris claimed he forgot to drop off his son, Cooper, at his daycare center while on his way to work on June 18. He only discovered the child after he left the office later that afternoon.
His attorney, Maddox Kilgore, said that his client's "eccentricities and moral failures" don't make him a murderer.
Lawrence Zimmerman, attorney for Leanne Harris, the defendant's wife, hailed the prosecution's decision during a news conference this week.
"This affirms what we have been saying all along," Zimmerman said, according to Reuters. "This was just a tragic accident. When the truth comes out, justice will prevail for Ross."
Leanne Harris has not been charged in the case.
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