ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A metro Atlanta man accused of leaving his 22-month-old son to die in a hot car has been released from prison.

Justin Ross Harris was released from Macon State Prison on Sunday after serving 10 years, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.

Harris was originally given a life sentence in 2016 for the death of his son Cooper.

In 2022, the Georgia Supreme Court decided to overturn Harris’ murder conviction, but he still served time for sex crimes included in the original conviction.

Murder conviction overturned for Justin Ross Harris, who left son in hot car in 2014

Prosecutors said Harris left his son in his car in June 2014. Harris was supposed to drop Cooper off at daycare on the way to his job at Home Depot but did not do so.

Cooper was discovered seven hours later in the back seat. The temperature that day was in the 80s.

Harris claimed it was an accident and blamed sleep deprivation. Prosecutors claimed that Harris wanted to get out of his marriage because he wanted to have sex with as many women as possible.

During the trial, the state argued Harris was a sexual deviant who intentionally left Cooper to die so he could pursue women he met online – some of whom were teenagers. Harris reportedly had exchanged sexual text messages with multiple women on the day his son died. One of the text exchanges was with a 16-year-old.

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled the information should have been excluded because it was “needlessly cumulative and prejudicial.” The court also stated that the evidence used to show Harris maliciously caused his son’s death was far from “compelling” or “strong.”

The Cobb County District Attorney’s Office later said they would not retry Harris on murder charges in his son’s death.

MORE COVERAGE:

Justin Ross Harris will not be retried in son’s hot car-related death

Justin Ross Harris’ attorney: Client ‘delighted’ he will not be retried

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In this article we will formulate an Atlanta Braves vs Detroit Tigers prediction for this MLB game on Monday, June 17th at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia. Let’s take a look at the prediction for game one in the series. 

Braves Offense is Rolling

The Atlanta Braves are 38-31 this season and they have won three of their last four games. Atlanta is coming off of a series win against Tampa Bay, where they won two out of three games and scored 22 runs in the three games. Prior to that series, the Braves lost two out of three against the Orioles, lost three out of four against the Nationals, and split two games with the Red Sox. Atlanta is just 3-6 in their last nine games and they are second in the NL East, eight games behind the Phillies. 

The Atlanta pitching staff has a 3.72 ERA, a 1.23 WHIP, and a .240 opponent batting average. The Braves offense has scored 309 runs with a .246 batting average and a .310 on base percentage. Marcell Ozuna is batting .322 with 20 home runs and 62 RBI’s for the Braves this season. Atlanta has scored at least six runs in four straight games, but they are just 15th in runs scored this season. 

Tigers Need to Find More Wins 

The Detroit Tigers are 34-37 this year and they have lost four of their last six games. Detroit is coming off of a series loss against Houston, where they lost two out of three games. Prior to that series, the Tigers lost two out of three against the Nationals, lost two out of three against the Brewers, and won two out of three against the Rangers. Detroit is 3-7 in their last 10 games and they are fourth in the AL Central, 11 games behind the Guardians. 

The Detroit pitching staff has a 3.86 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP, and a .240 opponent batting average. The Tigers offense has scored 304 runs with a .232 batting average and a .299 on base percentage. Riley Greene is batting .252 with 14 home runs and 36 RBI’s for the Tigers this season. Detroit is 13th in team ERA this season and they have allowed at least four runs in eight of their last ten games. 

Starting Pitchers

The projected starting pitcher for Atlanta is Max Fried, who is 6-3 with a 3.20 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP over 78.2 innings pitched this year. Fried has allowed two earned runs or fewer in three of his last four starts, but did allow four earned runs and six hits against Baltimore last time out. The projected starting pitcher for Detroit is Reese Olson, who is 1-8 with a 3.68 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP over 71.0 innings pitched this season. Olson has allowed 17 earned runs and 28 hits over his last three starts (14.2 IP) against Washington, Milwaukee, and Boston. 

Why the Atlanta Braves will win

The Braves have won each of their last six home games against American League opponents following a loss.
The Tigers have lost each of their last five night games following a road loss.
The Tigers have failed to cover the run line in each of their last five night games following a road loss.
The Braves have covered the run line each of their last four night games against American League opponents that held a losing record.
The Tigers have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last five road games against opponents that held a winning record.
The Braves have led after 5 innings in each of their last four night games against American League opponents that held a losing record.

Total Runs Facts

Each of the Braves’ last seven games as favorites against the Tigers have gone OVER the total runs line.
Ten of the Tigers’ last 11 games against National League opponents have gone OVER the total runs line.
The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Braves’ last seven home games against American League opponents.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Tigers’ last five games as underdogs against NL East opponents.

Atlanta Braves vs Detroit Tigers Prediction 

Atlanta comes into this game with some momentum, after not playing their best baseball over the last few weeks. The Braves got their offense going against Tampa Bay over the weekend and they will look to continue that here against Reese Olson, who has been awful in his last three starts. Olson started the season pitching very well, but the wheels have fallen off lately. Detroit is starting to fade the Wild Card race and their pitching staff has been a big issue. The Tigers offense is also very inconsistent and they will face Max Fried, who has been very good. I can’t count on Olson to pitch well against this Atlanta lineup, so my Atlanta Braves vs Detroit Tigers prediction is for the Braves to win by at least two runs.