DAYTON — One of five teens accused of crimes connected to the shooting death of a Lyft driver and a separate carjacking of another had his trial continued.
The trial was continued after the case lacked an expert testimony to argue for the transfer of the teen to adult court.
The transfer would allow for prosecutors to seek punishments given to 18-year-olds and older for equivalent crimes.
The 15-year-old was charged with four counts of Murder, three counts of Aggravated Robbery, two counts of Felonious Assault, one count of Tampering with Evidence, and one count of Grand Theft of a Motor Vehicle back in February 2022.
Prosecuting Attorney Mat Heck, Jr., for Montgomery County then filed a motion to transfer his case, along with another teenage suspect, Da’Trayvon Mitchell, to the adult court system under the pretense that the juvenile system was “not sufficient time to rehabilitate” them for serious criminal offenses, court records showed.
“Sadly, a man who was simply trying to make an honest living lost his life. These defendants were not shoplifting or trespassing; this was a purposeful armed robbery and a shooting that resulted in the murder of a completely innocent man,” Heck said.
The 15-year-old was one of four teens connected to the shooting and killing of Brandon Cooper, 35, of Beavercreek.
Cooper was the Lyft driver who reportedly picked up Mitchell and the 15-year-old before being shot near West Grand Avenue and Ferguson Avenue, just a short distance from the final destination in the 50 block of Cambridge Avenue, Dayton.
Responding Dayton officers discovered the driver with at least one gunshot wound to his back and his car crashed into another in the 1000 block of Ferguson Avenue at around 2 a.m. Wednesday, January 26, 2022, Dayton Police Lieutenant Jason Hall said.
A preliminary investigation of and near the scene found two unloaded 9mm casings, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said.
Further investigation led law enforcement agents to Anna Street where the suspects were located. A SWAT Team was deployed to extricate the suspects from the residence, the spokesperson continued.
Eventually, four male teens were identified and connected to the shooting in addition to a robbery that occurred an hour before Cooper’s murder.
Just an hour before, these four teens requested a Lyft ride from the same account. A female Lyft driver picked up the four passengers who then carjacked her at gunpoint on St. Agnes Avenue. The female was able to escape to a nearby house and request emergency aid, Hall informed.
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Brittney Cooper, the killed driver’s wife, now widow, sued Lyft for not informing her husband about the previous carjacking sooner.
“The blood of my son is on Lyft’s hands,” Michelle said. “The only thing they didn’t do was pull the trigger.”
The15-year-old’s amenability hearing follows an accepted transfer request for Mitchell who faced four counts of Murder, three counts of Aggravated Robbery, three counts of Felonious Assault, one count of Discharge of a Firearm On or Near Prohibited Premises, two counts of Tampering with Evidence, and one count of Grand Theft of a Motor Vehicle.
The new date for the trial was to be determined May 25.
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