A Pennsylvania teen who shot and killed a 12-year-old girl, then later showed off her bloodied body during a video chat will spend 15 to 40 years in prison.
Ash Cooper, who was charged as Joshua Cooper but is transitioning, pleaded guilty Thursday to third-degree murder, possession of an instrument of crime, and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, according to a press release from the Bucks County Attorney’s Office. The charges stem from the slaying of preteen Morgan Connors, who was found fatally shot in a trailer 18-year-old Cooper had shared with her father.
On Nov. 25, 2022, Bensalem police received a call from a frantic mother, alleging Cooper had connected with her daughter through Instagram’s video chat and confessed to killing someone. Cooper also asked for help hiding the body, then re-positioned the camera so that Connors’ legs were visible on screen, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
When officers responded to Top of the Ridge Trailer Park just after 4 p.m., they spotted Cooper attempting to flee the property. Inside the trailer, they found Connors face-down on the ground as well as evidence someone had attempted to wipe the scene clean of evidence, including bottles of household cleaners, bleach and a pile of blood-soaked towels sitting next to the victim’s body.
Cooper — who was 16 at the time — was taken into custody a short time later. She told authorities the shooting “was an accident” and that she was afraid to spend the rest of her life in jail. The teen further admitted that she used a rifle she retrieved from her father’s hunting safe, adding that she was able to gain access “by replacing the batteries” so as to “make the combination lock inoperable.”
Cooper’s attorney, Paul Lang, emphasized her “difficult upbringing” in the years leading up to the deadly violence. He also said her guilty plea, a clear sign of remorse, should influence the length of her prison sentence.
Bucks County Court Judge Jeffrey Finley on Thursday sentenced Cooper to between 15 and 40 years in prison for the slaying and seven years probation. Finley also said he would recommend Cooper be placed in a therapeutic community within the state prison system.
During the hearing, Chief Deputy District Attorney Kristin McElroy read an impact statement from the victim’s grandfather who described the “intense pain and heartbreak” of losing his granddaughter.
“The human heart is not built for such heartbreak,” the letter read.
