David Cooper

Timeline

• July 18, 1993 — After church, Latasha Goodman and her family had Sunday dinner at the parish hall in Asbury Park; children played in the fenced-in back yard while the adults sat on the front porch.
• July 18, 1993 — A man stood in the shrubs and watched the children at play for a while, then approached the children asking would one of them like a quarter; six-year-old Latasha Goodman said she would go with David Cooper, who lifted her over the fence and led her away by the hand.
• July 18, 1993 — Latasha’s seven-year-old cousin yelled, "Don't go Tasha, you are going to get kidnapped"; the family instigated a search, called the police, and asked neighbors to help find the child.
• July 18, 1993 — Several hours later the police found the body of the child under a porch of an abandoned building.
• May 3, 1995 — A jury deliberated for less than two hours before convicting David Cooper, 23, of raping and murdering Latasha Goodman.
• May 17, 1995 — David Cooper was sentenced to death.
• May 18, 1995 — The jury decided to impose a death sentence (death sentence for child killer).
• After sentencing — The death sentence was commuted to life in prison.

Background

David Cooper was 23 at the time of conviction. He had prior convictions for trespassing and a drug offense, and juvenile convictions for disorderly conduct and criminal mischief. He was on parole at the time of the murder.

Cooper claimed that he drank daily and used marijuana often, but he did not present evidence of his alleged alcoholism or intoxication at his penalty phase. Cooper claimed he was drunk during the attack and that Latasha Goodman’s death was accidental.

During Cooper’s childhood, he was abused, neglected, and exposed to drugs, alcohol, and violence. He was placed in numerous foster homes, and he did not have a relationship with his mother, who drank heavily when pregnant with Cooper.

The offence

On July 18, 1993, after church, Latasha Goodman and her family had Sunday dinner at the parish hall in Asbury Park because they were too poor to have a good dinner. After dinner, the family visited with relatives. While the adults sat on the front porch, the children played in the fenced-in back yard.

A man stood in the shrubs and watched the children at play for a while. He then approached the children asking would one of them like a quarter. Six-year-old Latasha Goodman said she would go with the defendant, David Cooper. Cooper lifted her over the fence and led her away by the hand.

Latasha’s seven-year-old cousin yelled, "Don't go Tasha, you are going to get kidnapped". The cousin immediately ran around to the front porch and a search was instigated. The family called the police, and neighbors were asked to help find the child.

Several hours later, the police found the body of the child under a porch of an abandoned building. Cooper had left her body naked from the chest down, one shoe off, in the rubble of the porch. Her vaginal area was exposed and covered in blood. There were no signs of life. Her killer had walked off after boarding up the entrance to the underside of the porch.

Police later found her body several hours later, under the porch of an abandoned house where Cooper lived. She was under the porch, with her shirt pulled up and her panties at her ankles. While the victim’s family members looked for her and called out her name, Cooper sexually assaulted and fatally strangled her. The medical examiner concluded that she had been strangled for four to six minutes.

The sexual assault caused her to bleed and to suffer numerous internal injuries to her vaginal canal and cervix, as well as to her anal canal. Her autopsy indicated that she was manually strangled.

Physical evidence, as well as Cooper’s confession, revealed that Cooper raped the little girl both vaginally and anally, using a condom so that he would not leave any evidence in or on the body. DNA analysis further tied Cooper to the murder.

Investigation

The defendant, David Cooper, was later identified after the police found a wallet in a gym bag at the scene. Physical evidence, as well as Cooper’s confession, revealed the rape by vaginal and anal assault and that a condom was used to avoid leaving evidence on or in the body.

Trial

David Cooper was found guilty by a jury and given the death penalty by a jury in 1995.

A New York Times account dated May 3, 1995 reported that:

"A jury deliberated for less than two hours yesterday before convicting David Cooper, 23, of raping and murdering 6-year-old Latasha Goodman under the porch of an abandoned house in Asbury Park in 1993."

The account also reported:

"Mr. Cooper's lawyer had acknowledged that his client killed the girl but argued that it was an accident."

It further reported that:

"An assistant prosecutor, Elaine A. Leschot, told the jury that Mr. Cooper had murdered the girl on purpose, after enticing her from her aunt's backyard with the promise of ice cream and candy and then taking her under the porch where no one could see them."

And that assistant prosecutor Elaine A. Leschot demanded:

"When," Ms. Leschot demanded, "does the accident start?"

A penalty phase was to begin on Monday, and the jury would decide whether to impose a death sentence or a life term with a minimum of 30 years in prison before parole.

Sentencing

The jury found the c(4)(f) (escape detection) and c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factors. The jury found varying numbers of jurors for several c(5)(h) (catchall) factors. The jury concluded that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors, and therefore sentenced the defendant to death.

David Cooper also received an aggregate noncapital sentence of seventy years with a thirty-five-year parole disqualifier.

A New York Times account dated May 18, 1995 described a death sentence for the child killer, and the current description of the sentencing includes the prosecutor’s statement:

"He chose the most personal, intensely personal, up-close contact you can get to commit murder. He used his hands to control, be in total control of a 6-year-old helpless victim."

Appeals

Cooper’s death sentence was commuted to life in prison.

Outcome

David Cooper was sentenced to death on May 17, 1995. The death sentence was commuted to life in prison. He remained on death row at the time of the included narrative.

Other details

A New York Times account stated that the verdict was for the murder of 6-year-old Latasha Goodman under the porch of an abandoned house in Asbury Park in 1993.

The narrative also stated that Cooper lured Latasha Goodman out of a backyard and took her to an area underneath the porch of an abandoned house where he lived, after which he sexually assaulted and fatally strangled her. Her shirt was pulled up and her panties were at her ankles when she was found under the porch.