Bensalem teen, Ash Cooper, sentenced after admitting to fatally shooting 12-year-old girl
BENSALEM, Pa. - A Bensalem teenager will spend at least the next 15 years in prison after admitting to the fatal shooting of a 12-year-old girl who she called her ‘best friend.’
Ash Cooper, who previously went by Joshua Cooper, pleaded guilty on Thursday to third-degree murder, possession of an instrument of crime, and tampering with evidence in the Nov. 2022 murder of Morgan Conners.
Back on Nov. 25, 2022, Bensalem Police received a 911 about a possible homicide at the Top of the Ridge trailer park.
The caller explained that a teenage witness was on an Instagram video chat with an Cooper, who claimed to have just killed someone. While on the call, Cooper flipped the camera around to show a portion of the victims body before asking the teen for help cleaning up the crime scene and disposing of the body.
Police responded to the property on Gibson Road and spotted Cooper running out of the back of the trailer.
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Officers went into the trailer and found Connors dead from an apparent gunshot wound. There was also evidence that steps had been taken to clean up the crime scene.
Cooper, then 16, was found nearby a short time later and taken into custody.
Investigators later learned that Cooper used a firearm from his father’s gun safe.
Cooper was sentenced to 15-40 years in prison with a consecutive sentence of seven years of probation. Additionally, Cooper, now 18, was ordered to follow all the rules and recommendations of adult probation and parole and undergo psychological and psychiatric evaluations.