COBB COUNTY, Georgia - Parents have accidentally left their children to die in hot vehicles, but that isn't necessarily what happened in the June 18 death of 22-month-old Cooper Harris, investigators in Georgia said late Wednesday afternoon. 
 
 Detectives uncovered physical and testimonial evidence that led them to believe a more serious crime was committed, police said Wednesday, and those findings ultimately led to a murder charge against Cooper's father, 33-year-old Justin Ross Harris. Harris is an Alabama native and University of Alabama graduate who worked as a police dispatcher for the Tuscaloosa Police Department for three years. 
 
 "I understand that tragic accidents similar to this one do occur and in most cases the parent simply made a mistake that cost them the life of their child,'' said Cobb County police Chief John R. Houser in a prepared statement. "This investigation, although similar in nature to others, must be weighed on its own merit and the facts that led our detectives to charge the father must be presented at the appropriate time during the judicial process." 
 
 "The chain of events that occurred in this case does not point toward simple negligence and evidence will be presented to support this allegation,'' Houser said. 
 
 Houser's statement went on to say that police officials cannot share specific details of the investigation with the public. "In fairness to everyone involved in this emotional case, I would ask that you not make conclusions based on rumor or suspicions and let our judicial system work as it is designed." 
 
 Cobb County police spokesman Mike Bowman held a press conference Wednesday evening. "Let us do our job," Bowman said, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "Let us get the information out there. Don't be so quick to judge." 
 
 Officials, however, didn't release any additional details at the news conference. 
 
 Cobb Police not going into specifics of Cooper Harris case... say investigation "active and far from over" #fox5atl pic.twitter.com/M6K5XL7O8h — denisedillon (@DillonFox5) June 25, 2014 
 
 Earlier Wednesday, information surfaced that Harris went to his car midday on the day that his son died. A new warrant was issued changing the charges against Harris from first- to second-degree child cruelty. Harris, 33, is also charged with murder. 
 
 Citing a law-enforcement source, Fox 5 Atlanta reported Harris' computer contained a search for how long it would take an animal to die in a hot car. The report didn't say when authorities believe that computer search was done. 
 
 According to the warrant made public Wednesday by a Cobb County magistrate, Harris placed Cooper into the rear-facing car seat of his 2011 Hyundai Tucson after eating at Chick-Fil-A on Cumberland Parkway, which is just two-tenths of a mile from Harris' Home Depot office. Cobb County police spokesman Officer Mike Bowman said he doesn't know what time Harris and his son were at Chick-Fil-A that morning. 
 
 Harris then drove to his office a couple of blocks away, and left his son strapped into the car seat in the SUV while he went into work. During lunch, the warrant says, Harris went back out to his car and was seen opening the driver's side door to put something in the vehicle. 
 
 He then closed the door and left the car, going back into work. The warrant doesn't specifically say whether Harris saw or knew Cooper was in the SUV when he went to the vehicle at lunch. 
 
 At 4:16 p.m., Harris pulled over at a shopping center on Akers Mill Road, got out and started screaming for help. Witnesses reported hearing Harris yelling, "What have I done? What have I done? I've killed our child." Cobb police Sgt. Dana Pierce told the AJC, "Apparently he forgot the child was in the car-seat." 
 
 Pierce later told Atlanta media questions had surfaced. "Much has changed about the circumstances leading up to the death of this 22-month-old since it was first reported," Cobb County Police Sgt. Dana Pierce told CNN. "I've been in law enforcement for 34 years. What I know about this case shocks my conscience as a police officer, a father and a grandfather." 
 
 The autopsy conducted on the boy suggested the manner of death was a homicide, Cobb County police said late Wednesday afternoon, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "The Cobb County Medical Examiner's Office is waiting for toxicology test results before making an official ruling as to the cause and manner of death," police said in a written statement. "However, the Cobb County Medical Examiner believes the cause of death is consistent with hyperthermia and the investigative information suggests the manner of death is homicide." 
 
 A service for Cooper will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at University Church of Christ in Tuscaloosa. A private family burial will follow. Visitation will be held at noon Saturday, before the service. 
 
 Efforts to reach Maddox Kilgore, Harris' attorney, for comment have been unsuccessful. Atlanta defense attorney Kim Keheley Frye, who doesn't represent Harris but is a colleague of Kilgore, has been outspoken about the way police have handled the Harris case. She said they've already released too much information that is prejudicial to Harris. 
 
 "Mr. Harris has the right to have a fair and impartial trial,'' Frye told AL.com. "It's really impacting the ability to presume him innocent. They are keeping him from having that by continuing to put things out." 
 
 She said there isn't much the defense can say, even if willing to do so. "They (police) need to keep their mouths shut because the defense side can't talk and that's the problem, it becomes a dog pile,'' Frye said. "We still don't know what's there. We just know what the police are saying is there." ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 June 27, 2014, 7:06 PM GMT / Updated June 28, 2014, 3:26 AM GMT 
 
 The Georgia dad charged with murder for leaving his 22-month-old son in a hot car to die will not be allowed to attend the boy's funeral Saturday. Cobb County officials say jail policy dictates that Justin Ross Harris must be kept locked up without bond while the rest of his family gathers in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to mourn Cooper. The tot died of hyperthermia in a parked SUV while his father was at work at The Home Depot. 
 
 After police announced that the evidence will show the boy's death was not "simple negligence," the anonymous sponsor of a Change.org petition that collected 11,000 signatures in support of Harris shut it down. "I think that based on the recent developments this petition is no longer relevant. I still pray that this was truly an accident," a note on the petition reads. An online fundraiser collected more than $22,000 for the family but donations dwindled as police insisted the felony murder charge is warranted. 
 
 IN-DEPTH 
 
 — Tracy Connor ||||| Story highlights Little has emerged about father of 22-month-old boy who died in car 
 
 But people who say they knew him praise him as a good man 
 
 He's charged with murder in the June 18 death of Cooper Harris 
 
 Prosecutors say he may be a criminal. People who say they know him describe him as a great dad. 
 
 So what's the story with Justin Ross Harris, the Cobb County, Georgia, man accused of murder after leaving his toddler strapped into his car seat under a blistering Southern sun? 
 
 The truth is, we don't know much. Police and prosecutors are being tight-lipped about the case against Harris, who is charged with felony murder and second-degree child cruelty in the death of 22-month-old Cooper Harris. He's refusing visitors to the Cobb County jail -- including CNN. His family isn't talking, and his attorney has not returned repeated telephone calls from CNN. 
 
 Here's what we do know: 
 
 JUST WATCHED What can dad's Google searches tell us? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH What can dad's Google searches tell us? 02:22 
 
 Harris is 33 years old. He has worked at Home Depot for two years. Home Depot Corporate Communications Manager Catherine H. Woodling said he worked "on our .com business, but I'm not sure what his title is." 
 
 He was placed on unpaid leave after the charges were filed in the June 18 incident -- a routine action in such situations, Woodling said. 
 
 He held jobs at the University of Alabama from August 2001 until May 2006 as a parking monitor and later as a mail delivery clerk, said Cathy Andreen, university director of media relations. 
 
 He worked as a police dispatcher in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, from June 10, 2006, to May 22, 2009, according to Police Department spokesman Sgt. Brent Blankley. He said the department would confirm only Harris' tenure, and not any details from his work history, so we don't know why he left the job. 
 
 In May 2012, Harris graduated from the University of Alabama with a bachelor's degree in commerce and business administration, having majored in management information systems, Andreen said. 
 
 The boy's mother, Leanna Harris, is listed as having the same home address as the father, but she told CNN last week that she's been advised not to discuss the case with the media. They were married May 7, 2006, in Tuscaloosa, according to the Tuscaloosa County marriage license clerk. 
 
 A woman who knew Harris as a teenager but hasn't seen him in 15 years described him as "a good kid" who spent a lot of time at University Church of Christ in Tuscaloosa, where Cooper is to be remembered at a funeral Saturday. 
 
 "We were always happy to have him in our home. And we were happy that he was friends with our child," Carol Brown told CNN's Nick Valencia. 
 
 People who say they know Harris posted change.org petitions asking that the charges against him be dropped but closed the petitions this week. One of the organizers posted, "based on the recent developments this petition is no longer revelant." 
 
 CNN couldn't immediately confirm the authenticity of the petition comments, many of which speak glowingly of Harris as a man and a father. 
 
 One petition signer, identified as Matt Wiley of Northpoint, Alabama, described Harris as "a great husband and a great father." 
 
 Another, identified as Michael Gordon of Northpoint, wrote of what he said was Harris' "grace and exemplary attitude." 
 
 "He has been nothing but a caring father and supporting husband. He worked full time and went to school for many years to get where he wanted to be," he said. 
 
 A petition signer identified as William Overstreet wrote that he couldn't imagine that man he says he knows intentionally killed his child. 
 
 "I've known Ross for over 10 years and he is a selfless man who loved people and loved his family more," the post reads. "NOTHING in his life even hints at this behavior." ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
– The funeral for 22-month-old Cooper Harris takes place today, and dad Justin Ross Harris won't be allowed to leave prison to attend, reports NBC News. The 33-year-old left his son in a hot car in a case that police in Georgia's Cobb County say wasn't "simple negligence." As more fishy circumstances about the case have surfaced, supporters of Harris have taken down a Change.org petition demanding that police drop murder charges. Authorities say they will lay out the evidence against Harris in more detail eventually, and new details are scarce in the meantime because his family isn't talking to the media and Harris himself is refusing visitors in jail, reports CNN. His employer, Home Depot, has placed him on unpaid leave as those who know him try to make sense of the murder charges. "I've known Ross for over 10 years and he is a selfless man who loved people and loved his family more," reads a typical post on that now-closed petition site. "NOTHING in his life even hints at this behavior." Prior to his job with the online side of Home Depot, Harris worked as a police dispatcher for three years in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, reports Al.com. He also had low-level jobs at his alma mater, the University of Alabama.