A man has been sentenced to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of shooting and killing an 18-year-old over a stolen cellphone, the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
Jaquez Emmanuel Cooper, 20, of Scottdale, was arrested in December 2018 in connection with the killing of Rene Betancourt Jr.
At trial, prosecutors said Betancourt had been riding around Atlanta with a close friend on Nov. 28, 2018, and had fallen asleep in the passenger seat by the time they returned to the friend’s home at the Oak Forest Apartments in Scottdale. The friend ran into the apartment to speak with a family member and take out the trash while Betancourt slept, according to a news release.
As the friend approached the dumpster, prosecutors said, he noticed Cooper rummaging through the driver’s seat of the car and confronted him. Cooper ran away, though, so the friend got back in the car to take Betancourt home.
Shortly after leaving the apartments, Betancourt woke up and noticed his phone was missing. Realizing that Cooper had taken it, the two returned to the complex to retrieve it, according to the news release. When they got there, Betancourt found Cooper and two other people, who began assaulting Betancourt.
Surveillance footage shows the group pointing guns at Betancourt and blocking him from running away, the release states. Cooper is then seen cornering Betancourt against a wall and shooting him in the face before running away.
Due to his reputation for violence, witnesses were initially hesitant to name Cooper as the shooter for fear of retaliation, prosecutors noted.
But on April 22, Cooper was found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, the DA’s office said. DeKalb Superior Court Judge Gregory Adams sentenced Cooper on Monday to life in prison plus five years to run consecutively.
The case was the first trial and conviction for the newly formed Firearm Violence Prevention Unit, a spokesperson for the DA said in the release. The unit was formed in March, and its focus is to identify gang members and others illegally possessing firearms and build federal cases whenever possible in an effort to reduce gun violence.
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