Leanna Taylor was on the stand in her ex-husband's murder trial for nearly five hours Monday, and she'll be back this morning for more cross-examination by prosecutor Chuck Boring.
» Hot car death trial live stream: Watch Leanna Taylor take the stand.
Even though she divorced Ross Harris earlier this year over his serial philandering, Taylor appeared as a defense witness and seemed firmly in Harris's camp on Monday. She spoke at length about her ex-husband's devotion to their son, Cooper, and the defense showed the jury dozens of images and videos of Cooper. What the jurors saw was a delightful toddler who loved bananas and appeared to have a strong bond with his father.
But these were also images of a little boy who will never get any older than 22 months. Ross Harris is accused of malice murder for leaving Cooper to die in his hot SUV in July 2014.
Leanna Taylor’s testimony on Monday represented her first public statements about her son’s death and her husband’s prosecution. Although she sometimes cried on the stand, Taylor was mostly composed and articulate. Some said she was a little too composed, seeming to be too practiced. Others gave her high marks for what they found to be lucid, believable testimony.
Here are five key statements by Taylor on Monday:
- On her discovery that Cooper wasn't at daycare: "I just went into a panic. I didn't know what to do. I left the room and ran down to the front desk. 'They're telling me Cooper wasn't checked in today. Where's Cooper? I can't find Cooper.' I don't remember the exact words I said. I was starting to lose my ability to understand what was going on. I was — it didn't make sense."
- On why she asked her then-husband at the police station, "Did you say too much?": "I know how Ross responds to people. Especially to people he didn't know. He talks a lot even if he doesn't have anything to say. I couldn't understand what was happening. I didn't know why he was being charged. I didn't understand the actions that were being taken. The only thing I could think in my head was, 'What did you say?' So those words came out."
- On whether she confronted her husband the first time she found evidence of his sexting: "Yes, right then and there. That was probably one of our more vivid fights that I can remember. I went in the bathroom. I shut myself in the bathroom and asked him to leave. He didn't leave. He wouldn't leave. He didn't want to leave me."
- On the family's plans: "We wanted to make sure if we bought a house it would be something that would be big enough in the future. Cooper was our only child, but we were planning to have more children."
- On going home from the police station the night of Cooper's death: "I didn't want to go in my home. It was like I knew, if I went through the door that it would be real. And I didn't want it to be real. So I sat down on the sidewalk outside. … We finally went inside. I walked back through the kitchen and through the hallway and back to Cooper's room, and I just got in his bed and I cried. I finally was able to cry."
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The AJC's team in Brunswick will report throughout the day on key developments in the trial, and you'll also be able to follow our minute-by-minute account of the proceedings from the time court convenes in the morning until it recesses in the afternoon. AJC reporters Christian Boone (@reporterJCB) and Bill Rankin (@ajccourts) are in Brunswick for the duration of the trial.
Harris is also the subject of the second season of the AJC's podcast series "Breakdown,"which is following the trial's developments.
