A Gary woman got a total 12-year split term Tuesday for setting her court cases, including taking her crying son out of his car seat before a crash. He died.
Later, she was arrested for selling fentanyl pills out of her home.
LaSheanna Cooper, 28, admitted to reckless homicide, a Level 5 felony. She originally faced Level 1 felony neglect.
As part of the plea, she also admitted to dealing in a narcotic drug, a Level 5 felony in May 2023 for selling Percocet/fentanyl pills. She got time served for her revoked probation in a 2019 burglary case.
Judge Gina Jones sentenced her separately. For the drug dealing case, Cooper got four years in prison and two on probation. For the child’s death, she got three years in prison, 1 ½ years in Kimbrough Work Release and 1 ½ years probation.
The sentences are consecutive – meaning seven years in prison, 1 ½ years in work release and 3 ½ years on probation.
Cooper indicated she will not appeal.
After the hearing, Jones told Cooper she wanted to give her some probation time as a buffer to help her get rehabilitated back into society.
“I am really hopeful you are able to do that,” she said.
Earlier in the hearing, Cooper’s family acknowledged the tragedy of the boy’s death and asked Jones to show leniency, noting they took in her children during Cooper’s nearly two-year stint in jail so far.
Her sister Waynenasha Cardwell said in court that she had a successful career, but was forced by circumstances to take in Cooper’s daughter, 10.
“This is not the life I planned for myself,” she said.
Stephanie Cooper, her mother, said her daughter knew “what she did was bad,” and asked Jones “not to be so hard on her. She loves her kids.”
“She’s not a bad person,” the woman said, but she’s made “many bad choices.”
“She needs counseling,” Stephanie said. “She has to work on herself.”
Deputy Prosecutor Judy Massa said she prosecuted several of Cooper’s prior criminal cases and believes the boy’s death was the worst day of her life. No amount of jail time would equal the guilt and devastation she’ll carry with her, she said.
However, she also thought Cooper was “dishonest somewhat” with various bits of information she kept from probation in the case.
Massa noted the drugs Cooper was selling later were found in a Mickey Mouse backpack and an 18-month-old baby was present during a deal.
“I understand no one’s perfect,” she said. It appeared she didn’t take past breaks seriously.
“I don’t believe anyone is unreachable,” Massa said, asking for 3.5 years in prison for the boy’s death and 4.5 years for the drug case.
“My client can’t change the past, but wants to move forward in a positive way,” defense lawyer Shontrai Irving told Jones.
Cooper apologized to her family.
“I understand what I did,” she said, calling it an accident.
Gary Police were called April 16, 2022, to the 3600 block of West 15th Avenue after a Nissan hit a tree and rolled over, charges state.
Shortly before the crash, she took her son out of his car seat and told another woman to hold him in the front seat, according to a charging affidavit.
At the hospital, Cooper first told police she didn’t know who was driving. She later told them about picking up her friend. Cooper said she didn’t remember the crash, the affidavit said.
Her son was identified as Isaiah Neely, according to court documents. He was pronounced dead at 8:30 p.m. that night, according to the Lake County Coroner’s office.
The female passenger told police she let Cooper drive her car. She was upset that Cooper left her son in the car when they went into the house, who was crying “very loud,” she said.
When they left to go to the gas station, the car seat was not secured, the woman said, according to the affidavit. The boy was still crying and Cooper took him from the back seat and told the woman to hold him, documents said.
The woman said she lowered her seat back out of view, so a police officer wouldn’t see she was holding him, charges state.
They drove for five minutes before the crash, the woman said. Nothing seemed amiss and she saw Cooper drop her phone, which had been buzzing, just before the crash, court documents said.
The next thing she remembered was hitting the tree, she said. After impact, she couldn’t find the baby. She managed to crawl through the sunroof, while Cooper was still inside, she said, according to court documents.
mcolias@post-trib.com