An 18-year-old transgender person from Pennsylvania was sentenced Thursday for the murder of a 12-year-old, NBC Philadelphia reported.
Ash Cooper, 18, formerly known as Joshua Cooper, was sentenced for the murder of 12-year-old Morgan Connors. Cooper pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, among other charges related to the November 2022 incident. according to NBC to Philadelphia. The court sentenced him to 15 to 40 years in prison, with an additional seven years suspended. Cooper must also comply with a series of probation regulations and undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Police responded to a report of a possible murder at a local trailer park, the newspaper reported. When police arrived, they saw a teenage boy running from the back of the trailer. When they got into the trailer, they found Connors lying on the bathroom floor with a gunshot wound. There was evidence that someone had tried to clean up the area where the incident occurred. Officers later found Cooper nearby at a trailer park and arrested him, NBC Philadelphia reported.
A Bucks County teenager has been found guilty of fatally shooting a 12-year-old girl and asking friends on Instagram to cover up her death. https://t.co/C9nFYiluoj
— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) March 22, 2024
Cooper admitted to accidentally killing Connors and showed a friend the bloody scene in an Instagram video chat. Cooper then asked for help covering up the crime and removing Connors’ body, according to NBC Philadelphia. An investigation revealed that Cooper had obtained the gun from his father’s safe. (Related article: ‘Dark Fantasy’: Two teenage suspects convicted in murder of transgender teen)
At sentencing, Connors’ grandfather spoke about how his family was hurt by his loss in a letter he wrote, read aloud by Chief Deputy District Attorney Christine McElroy. “The human heart is not designed to endure such heartbreak,” the letter said, according to NBC Philadelphia.
