This article describes child abuse. Please take care while reading.
Just days before her trial was set to begin, a Chatham County, GA woman, Jennifer Cooper, pleaded guilty in March to murder stemming from the 2023 death of her 2-month-old son. Cooper’s son, Randy Taylor Jr., was found dead at Cooper’s home in Aug. 2023. Cooper has now been sentenced to eight years in prison and 12 years probation for the crime.
According to Savannah, GA’s WTOC, Cooper’s husband returned home from work in August 2023 and asked where Randy was. Jennifer told him she had given the boy a bottle on the couch and fell asleep, “at which point the defendant discovered that she was laying on top of the baby who was found cold to the touch within the couch cushion,” Georgia State’s Attorney Katherine Bird said in court.
According to Savannah’s WSAV methamphetamines were found in Cooper’s body and the body of her son, and methamphetamines were also discovered inside the home. Police also alleged the boy was injured, with swollen eyes, blood on his face, and an indentation on his head.
Describing the scene, a Chatham County prosecutor said at a Cooper court hearing that the “living conditions in the home were deplorable, to say the least.”
The boy’s uncle lived with the family
Chatham County mother pleads guilty to murder of infant son, sentenced to prison | Click on the image to read the full story https://t.co/7WhTTKpEwL
— WJCL News (@WJCLNews) March 18, 2025
The baby’s uncle, who lived with Jennifer and her husband, said he saw Jennifer holding an unresponsive baby on the couch that same night.
The boy’s uncle described, “I was in my bedroom watching TV. I Heard the commotion outside with my brother and her hollering. I walked out here and he was passed away… anyways, they were arguing about it, well not arguing, just hollering at each other that he’s dead.”
About a year before the 2-month-old died, Jennifer had another child die on the same couch from what was determined to be sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). She never faced charges in that case.
At first, Cooper pleaded not guilty, “Just to be clear, that night Jennifer did not recall how any of the injuries occurred to the baby and stated that they must’ve happened when she was laying on top of the child,” Chatham County Police Department Detective Randall Noble said in court, according to WJCL.
Before Cooper changed her plea and received her sentence, her defense attorney, Katherine Kelly said Cooper lives with mental health issues and should not be incarcerated, according to WTOC. Kelly previously said there was little risk Cooper would reoffend.
Kelly added, “Given her mental health history [not being] incarcerated would be the best way for her to get the mental health treatment that she would need.”
Cooper reportedly agreed to change her plea in a deal that would see her sentenced to 20 years: The first eight in prison, with 12 more years spent on probation after that.
Referring to the young victim, the baby’s uncle said, “I loved him a lot, I stayed in my room most of the time but I love him a lot. Every time I’ve seen him, he’s filled with joy.”
Published: Mar 21, 2025 8:00 PM UTC