Ex-Wife Defends Convicted Murderer Justin Ross Harris in Their Toddler’s Hot Car Death
Leanna Taylor is not “okay” — and hasn’t been for a long time — she said in a Monday Facebook post after her ex-husband, Justin Ross Harris, was convicted of murder after intentionally leaving their 22-month-old son, Cooper, to die in a hot car.
Taylor, who reverted to her maiden name after divorcing Harris following his arrest, also defended her ex in her Facebook post, while sharing the pain she is still in.
“For those of you who want to know if I am ok. The answer is no,” she wrote. “I have not been ‘ok’ since the moment I was told my son was dead. I have not been ‘ok’ since the moment my life was put on this path that has led to Ross being found guilty of maliciously murdering our child.”
“So now you may be saying ‘justice has been served,’ ” she continued. “And you are allowed your right to that opinion. But guess what, you can convict every parent that this has ever happened to, and I can promise you 2 things…#1 it will never bring our children back and #2 it will not prevent this from happening in the future.”
Harris has always maintained that Cooper’s hot car death was a tragic accident, not murder, which Taylor echoed in her post on Monday.
“Next summer, as this begins to happen over and over again, ask yourself, ‘what can be done?!’ The problem is not the parent!” she wrote. “The problem is a society that refuses to believe this can happen to them! Wake up! Accept it! And by accepting it you will be protecting your child!”
(Harris’ attorney has said they will appeal the guilty verdict and reiterated his innocence.)
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In her Monday post, Taylor also dismissed any outside speculation.
“I don’t care what your opinion is in my situation,” she wrote. “I don’t care what your opinion is of me! It does not matter! Your opinion will never bring back my son. So called ‘justice’ will never bring back my son.”
“Nothing will ever take that pain away,” Taylor’s Facebook post concluded. “And nothing will ever feel worse than living with the knowledge that his pain and his death could have been prevented.
“Be the wise parent, and accept that this can happen. And you will never have to walk the path that my family has had to walk. And I pray YOU never have to walk this path.”
While Taylor has continually defended Harris, arguing that he didn’t intentionally kill their son and was a “wonderful father,” she testified in court that she never wants to see her ex-husband again — following allegations about his marital infidelities with prostitutes and sexting with multiple women, some as young as 16.
“This whole trial has been unbelievably hurtful to her,” a source close to Taylor previously told PEOPLE. “ testimony in particular has been painful and infuriating. She really wanted the house and the kids and the picket fence with Ross, and it was all taken away from her.”
(The source says there will be no additional comment from Taylor, beyond her Facebook post.)
“He ruined my life. He destroyed my life,” Taylor testified during Harris’ trial. “I’m humiliated, I may never trust anybody again the way that I did. If I never see him again in my life after this day, that’s fine.”
