Breyanla Cooper, left, and Faheem Cooper, right, are inset against an image of the Chattahoochee River. (Cobb County Sheriff’s Office; Georgia Bureau of Investigation artist Kelly Lawson; National Park Service)
A Georgia mother will spend the rest of her life behind bars for the 2021 murder of her toddler son, authorities announced.
Breyanla Lachuan Cooper, 29, pleaded guilty to every charge against her in a Cobb County courtroom on Thursday, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office announced in a press release.
In August 2021, the since-condemned woman was indicted on one count each of malice murder, aggravated assault, and concealing the death of another for killing her 19-month-old boy, Faheem Cooper, and then dumping his tiny body in the Chattahoochee River.
The child was discovered by happenstance in the well-known river during the late morning of July 1, 2021, by firefighters near the Paces Mill Unit boat ramp off Cobb Parkway. The Cobb County fire crew was “beginning training and filming a water safety video when they discovered the remains of the toddler,” Cobb County Police spokesperson Sergeant Wayne Delk said when announcing the arrest.
As Law&Crime reported at the time, Breyanla Cooper was initially charged on a count of concealing the death of another.
Police said the boy’s mother was not cooperative when she was arrested – and had aimed to inhibit a determination as to whether her son’s death was the result of violence or abuse. Faheem Cooper’s body was placed in the muddy waters of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area on June 26, 2021, sometime during the late afternoon and early evening, the arrest warrant in the case said.
The defendant came to local law enforcement after she saw headlines about the discovery of her son’s body, the DA’s office noted in their press release. She at first feigned something like surprise, asking to help identify the body by calling a non-emergency line.
During talks with detectives, Breyanla Cooper said her son had been kidnapped by a man she owed money to. Under pressure from askance investigators, the murderess said she was too scared to report the kidnapping. Basic details of the phantom kidnapper and nonexistent kidnapping were then provided to law enforcement. When surveillance footage obtained from two separate motels that could have supported her story was consulted and checked, however, police found no evidence of a kidnapping – or even any evidence that she had been at either location with her son at all.
Detectives quickly moved on and spoke to the defendant’s mother. She had last seen her grandson on June 26 of that year – and gave detectives information about the car her daughter was driving.
After obtaining and consulting GPS data from the vehicle, law enforcement learned that Breyanla Cooper spent just over two hours at the Chattahoochee River – between 5:57 p.m. to 8:08 p.m. – on the last day her son had been seen alive.
Authorities believe she killed the child then and there. The mother’s indictment alleges that her son was asphyxiated.
A cellular phone seized from Breyanla Cooper revealed tell-tale searches about foster care and the Chattahoochee River, law enforcement said. The defendant’s older child told police their mother said their “time with” Faheem Cooper “was done.”
“It is unimaginable for anyone to take the life of a child, least of all his own mother,” Cobb District Attorney Flynn D. Broady, Jr. said when announcing the sentence. “We are committed to obtaining justice for all victims. We will hold all who are responsible accountable.”
The road to what amounts to justice in the case took just over two years.
The defendant initially pleaded not guilty in the case. Her trial was originally slated to begin in late March this year.
“It is unfathomable that a human being could do this to a baby,” Senior Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Green said during the plea hearing. “It is unspeakable that a mother would do this to her own flesh and blood.”
Superior Court Judge Kellie S. Hill added: “I cannot imagine how painful this has got to be for the family. There’s just nothing the court can say or do to make this any better for anybody.”
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