Mother indicted in son’s death, faces murder charges

The Cobb County District Attorney’s Office announced that a mother accused of hiding her toddler’s death by placing him in the Chattahoochee River has been indicted and charged with the boy’s murder. This week, a grand jury indicted Breyanla Lachuan Cooper, 27, on four felony counts, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and concealing a death.

Cooper, who lived in Stone Mountain, is accused of hiding her toddler’s death by placing him in the Chattahoochee River. She was arrested within hours of the child’s body being found on July 1. According to the indictment, Cooper allegedly “did unlawfully, will malice forethought, cause the death of Faheem Cooper, a human being, by asphyxiation, contrary to the laws of said state, the good order, peace and dignity thereof.” Cooper is alleged to have killed her son between June 26 and June 27. Firefighters conducting a training exercise spotted the child’s body in the river the morning of July 1 near the Paces Mill boat ramp off Cobb Parkway. Although his exact age is unknown to authorities at this time, investigators believe the child is between 18 months and 3 years old. Thanks to the work of a GBI sketch artist, investigators were able to identify him.

Within 12 hours of the discovery of the body, Cooper was arrested and taken into custody. She was initially charged with concealing the death of another person. Cooper remains in the Cobb jail without bond according to jail officials.