Paula Cooper
Paula Cooper (born August 25, 1969 - † May 26, 2015 in Indianapolis , Indiana ) was an American who committed murder at the age of 15 and was sentenced to death . Protests against the death penalty for a minor and numerous press reports in the American and European media resulted in the sentence being converted to 60 years to life. Two years after her early release for good behavior committed Paula Cooper suicide .
The murder
On May 14, 1985, Paula Cooper got drunk with two girls who were friends, aged 14 and 16. The three smoked marijuana and went to Ruth Pelke, a 78-year-old woman in the neighborhood, and pretended to take Bible lessons with her. One of the girls hit the woman on the head with a vase. Paula Cooper stabbed Ruth Pelke with 33 stab wounds. The three took ten dollars in cash and the key to their victim's car.
The process
Cooper pleaded guilty to the criminal trial in Lake County Court . The prosecution saw her as a person incapable of rehabilitation and called for the death penalty. The defense portrayed Paula Cooper as a victim of violence and sexual abuse in the family. The father beat her and her siblings with electric wires and made them watch as he raped their mother . One day the mother told the children that they would now meet Jesus, sent them into the garage and started the car. The three passed out, but survived carbon monoxide poisoning .
On July 11, 1986, the court sentenced her to the death penalty. Paula Cooper was the youngest person on death row in a US prison at the time.
Protests and changes in the law
Because of the age of the convicts and their difficult childhood and adolescence, there were protests against the verdict. Among other things, Pope John Paul II protested against it. The prominent American political show 60 Minutes took on the case. The death sentence against Paula Cooper also preoccupied politics: In 1987 the state of Indiana passed a law that raised the minimum age for the death penalty from 10 to 16 years. In 1988, the US Supreme Court banned the execution of the death penalty for those under the age of 16. Under the influence of these developments, on July 3, 1989, the Indian Supreme Court commuted Cooper to life imprisonment.
Imprisonment and Release
Paula Cooper caught up on her high school diploma while in prison. She was considered an exemplary prisoner. In 1995, in prison, she met Ormeshia Linton, who had been sentenced to 30 years for drug trafficking. Cooper looked after Linton as she had looked after other prisoners on several occasions. The two women became friends and remained so after their layoffs in 2010 (Linton) and 2013.
However, after the imprisonment, the roles reversed: Ormeshia Linton now helped Paula Cooper to cope with life. Cooper became depressed and shot herself on May 26, 2015. She was 45 years old.
Individual evidence
- ^ Pope Urges Indiana Not to Execute Woman , New York Times, Sep. 27, 1987, p. 13A
- ↑ Liliana Segura: From Death Row at 16 to Suicide at 45: The Life and Death of Paula Cooper , The Intercept, June 12, 2015
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cooper, Paula |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American murderess |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 25, 1969 |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 26, 2015 |
| Place of death | Indianapolis , Indiana |