Stephanie Smith, also known by the name Stephanie Cooper, has been sentenced to life in prison after admitting she smothered her daughter in 2016 during an apparent medical episode.
On Monday, this Alabama mother agreed to plead guilty to murder — rather than capital murder — and was sentenced to life for the death of her 4-year-old daughter, Zadie Cooper, a local outlet reported.
Smith called 911 and reported that her daughter wasn’t breathing back in July 2016. First responders raced to the property and administered CPR but couldn’t save the child. Zadie was pronounced brain dead and removed from life support.
Investigators reported that Smith explained that her daughter was found caught between her bed and the wall and had tried to save her life. According to police reports, they didn’t arrest or charge her even though the death was still believed to be suspicious.
Doesn’t anyone find this suspicious?
A weird turn of events happened nine months after the death of Zadie when her mom walked into the Police Department in Athens, GA, and confessed to killing her daughter. She claimed she was not on her medication at the time of Cooper’s death and wasn’t aware of her actions when she placed a pillow over her face and smothered her.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2017, Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson said Smith told authorities that when she is off her medication, she “sees red.” Still, she was utterly lucid during her confession.
“Yesterday, it was obvious (that) she was in a very good frame of mind. She knew exactly what she was doing. She was talking with us. She wanted to get this out that she had caused this,” ” Johnson said in 2017.
Why did Stephanie lie to authorities? She was afraid of the consequences. Isn’t that special? Smith remains incarcerated at the Limestone County jail since she confessed to the killing in 2017. She is eligible for parole, but at present, there is no timeline for when she would become available.
This piece was written by Wayne Dupree on August 12, 2020. It originally appeared in WayneDupree.com and is used by permission.
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