Joshua Cooper Bensalem teen, 16, to be tried as an adult after asking acquaintance on Instagram help to dispose of body of girl he shot dead.
A Bucks County, Pennsylvania 16 year old teen is to be charged as an adult after confessing to the murder of a young girl who lived in his trailer park on social media, whereby he asked for help disposing of the body, police said.
The murder allegedly occurred at the Top of the Ridge Trailer Park in Bensalem, near Philadelphia. Police say they found the body of a young girl inside a mobile home on Friday at 4 p.m., dead of an apparent gunshot wound.
Bensalem Township Police said they investigated the mobile home unit upon receiving a call from a woman who indicated that her daughter had received an Instagram chat from an ‘acquaintance’ confessing to the murder and asking for help disposing of the body.
That acquaintance told police that Cooper flipped the video camera around and showed the feet and legs of the 13-year-old victim covered in blood. The girl told her mom who immediately called police.
Police identified the suspect, a 16-year-old Joshua Cooper, and are charging the teen boy as an adult, KYW-TV reported.
Victim id as 13 year old girl
Another witness who lives in the trailer park told KYW that they heard gunshots, followed by seeing Cooper emerging from the trailer where the murder allegedly occurred. Police say that when they arrived to the scene, Cooper attempted to flee out of the back of the trailer, but they were able to catch him on foot and took him into custody. They also apparently found evidence that someone had attempted to clean up the scene.
Police have not released any information about a potential motive for the murder, nor have they released information about the identity of the victim.
However, citing court documents, the Bucks County Courier Times reported Friday that the victim was a 13-year-old girl. Law enforcement authorities told the newspaper that the victim is not a Bensalem resident and is not related to Cooper.
William McVey, Bensalem’s Director of Public Safety, told the Courier Times that the victim was shot once in the chest and that any possible motive for the shooting was not currently known.
‘The gun was found inside the mobile home, and police are investigating who owned the weapon and how Cooper had access to it,’ the newspaper noted.
During police questioning, Cooper allegedly told police that the shooting ‘was an accident’.
During the interview, Cooper allegedly said that he removed ‘firearms’ from his father’s safe while cleaning it. He then started sorting out ammunition.
Cooper also allegedly apologized to the police and said he would be ‘going to jail for the rest of [his] life.’
The teen upon his arrest according to a press release was charged with: Criminal Homicide, Possessing Instruments of Crime and Tampering with or Fabricating Physical Evidence.
Cooper has been denied bail and is currently being held in a juvenile detention center.
