--- description: While Leanna Taylor believes that her ex-husband was a devoted father, she said his cheating "humiliated" her title: Mother of Boy Killed in Hot-Car Incident Says Ex 'Destroyed My Life' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4abf1d8b9a02a3c6/6988ac9dcd1bba4a68702f2d/hot-car-death-georgia.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Mother of Boy Killed in Hot-Car Incident Says Ex 'Destroyed My Life' by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 1, 2016 11:40 PM CUT  Leanna Taylor cries as an attorney shows photographs of her son Cooper to the jury during a murder trial for her ex-husband Justin Ross Harris, on Oct. 31, 2016, in Brunswick, Ga. Leanna Taylor cries as an attorney shows photographs of her son Cooper to the jury during a murder trial for her ex-husband Justin Ross Harris, on Oct. 31, 2016, in Brunswick, Ga.John Bazemore—AP by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 1, 2016 11:40 PM CUT The mother of a boy who died in a hot-car incident said in court Tuesday that the boy’s father, her ex-husband, “[destroyed my life](https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-wife-pressed-dark-side-dad-sons-hot-073907213.html?ref=gs "undefined").” [Justin Ross Harris](http://time.com/2966679/leanna-harris-justin-ross-harris-hot-car/ "undefined") left his 22-month-old son [Cooper](http://time.com/4517070/cooper-harris-hot-car-baby-death-trial-georgia/ "undefined") in the car in Georgia in June 2014; his defense attorneys say he forgot to drop him off at daycare and then forgot that he was in the car, while prosecutors say he deliberately left the child in the car to escape his family responsibilities. He was found to have been sexting with a 17-year-old during the incident, asking her to send a photo of her breasts. He also visited a prostitute not long before the event. [Leanna Taylor](http://time.com/2937804/child-death-heat-car-backseat/ "undefined") divorced Harris earlier this year, but she testified in court Monday that he was a loving father who “wanted to enjoy every second he could” with their son. She said she did not believe he would leave the child intentionally. But on Tuesday, questioned by prosecutors, she said her husband’s infidelity had “humiliated” her. “He ruined my life. He destroyed my life,” she said, according to the Associated Press. “I may never trust anyone again the way that I did. If I never see him again in my life, that’s fine.” Testimony from Taylor’s best friend and Harris’ brother also emphasized that cheating aside, they believed him to be a devoted father and did not feel he would purposefully kill his son. \[[AP](https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-wife-pressed-dark-side-dad-sons-hot-073907213.html?ref=gs "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4554252/cooper-harris-hot-car-leanna-taylor-mom/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4554252/cooper-harris-hot-car-leanna-taylor-mom/"},"headline":"Mother of Boy Killed in Hot-Car Incident Says Ex 'Destroyed My Life'","datePublished":"2016-11-01T23:40:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:33:46.281Z","description":"While Leanna Taylor believes that her ex-husband was a devoted father, she said his cheating \"humiliated\" her","url":"https://time.com/4554252/cooper-harris-hot-car-leanna-taylor-mom/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4abf1d8b9a02a3c6/6988ac9dcd1bba4a68702f2d/hot-car-death-georgia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4abf1d8b9a02a3c6/6988ac9dcd1bba4a68702f2d/hot-car-death-georgia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Leanna Taylor","caption":"Leanna Taylor cries as an attorney shows photographs of her son Cooper to the jury during a murder trial for her ex-husband Justin Ross Harris, on Oct. 31, 2016, in Brunswick, Ga.","creditText":"John Bazemore—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4554252/cooper-harris-hot-car-leanna-taylor-mom/","name":"Mother of Boy Killed in Hot-Car Incident Says Ex 'Destroyed My Life'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Police Investigate Toddler's Death in Hot Car","description":"Police in Georgia investigating the death of a 22-month-old toddler have found disturbing Internet searches made on the father’s seized computers.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vxynX2fK/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-06-27T18:03:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vxynX2fK.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4554252/cooper-harris-hot-car-leanna-taylor-mom/","duration":"PT2M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4554252/cooper-harris-hot-car-leanna-taylor-mom/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```