Cops: Mother put toddler in Chattahoochee River to hide death
The woman arrested in connection with the death of a toddler whose body was pulled from the Chattahoochee River earlier this month was the child’s mother, Cobb County police confirmed Tuesday.
In an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Cobb police spokesman Sgt. Wayne Delk said 27-year-old Breyanla Cooper was the mother of the young boy whose body was found in the river by Cobb firefighters July 1. No other details were released.
The boy’s body was discovered during a training exercise on the river near the Paces Mill boat ramp off Cobb Parkway, authorities said.
The fire crew was “beginning training and filming a water safety video when they discovered the remains of the toddler,” police said.
The boy’s exact age is not known, but investigators believe he was likely between 18 months and 3 years old. His body may have been in the river for five days before the remains were discovered, according to an arrest warrant.
Cooper was taken into custody just over 12 hours after the body was found. She was charged with concealing the death of another after police said she hindered investigators’ ability to determine if the death involved foul play. The warrant stated that Cooper concealed the death by “placing the victim in the Chattahoochee River.”
It is not clear if other charges are pending.
Cooper remains in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond.
About the Author
Asia Simone Burns is a watchdog reporter for the AJC. Burns was formerly an intern in AJC’s newsroom and now writes about crime. She is a graduate of Samford University and has previously reported for NPR and WABE, Atlanta’s NPR member station.
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