CHARLOTTE — Channel 9 has confirmed that the Halloween party where a 17-year-old was killed was held at a rental home, and that as many as 300 people attended.
Jonathan Lowe tracked down where the homeowner lives and is waiting to hear back from them on whether they knew their home would be used for a massive party that turned violent and deadly.
“I haven’t seen her, I still haven’t seen her,” said Cooper’s mom, Shante Robinson. “I’m just waiting for them do to whatever they need to do so I can see my baby.”
Cooper had just arrived with her sister at a Halloween party Friday night being held at a home on Old Plank Road in northwest Charlotte, when gunfire erupted.
As they ran, Cooper’s sister thought she tripped and fell in a ditch.
“When the ambulance got there, they said that was not the case, that she was shot,” Robinson said as she cried.
Robinson said Cooper had a bright future ahead of her. A mom to two-year-old Mahoganii, she was about to graduate from West Charlotte High in February, four months early. She also had her own business: doing hair.
“I don’t even know how she did it,” Robinson said. “Because me, I would have been tired. I would have been struggling.”
She said her daughter earned that night off.
“People will say, ‘what are they doing outside that late?” said Robinson. “Why can’t people say, ‘where’s the parents for these people that’s holding guns and bringing guns to the party?’”
“I’m tired of seeing our young people die over senseless violence, it’s enough, and I do want to see justice for Amari,” said CMS School Board Vice-Chair Dee Rankins.
It was a difficult weekend for West Charlotte.
Cooper’s murder, and Friday afternoon, a school resource officer was seen on video appearing to throw a student to the ground. The district ended up making Monday a remote learning day for West Charlotte.
“It’s good to have a reset day,” Rankins said. “Not only to allow students to reset, our staff to reset.”
Rankins said in an era of violence, he’s confident the district is doing a good job keeping weapons off school grounds.
“I think we have to do a better job as a community as a whole to educate our students about guns and leave them alone,” he said. “That’s just about it.”
“I’m not gone sleep, I’m not gone let up,” said Robinson. “So if they think this is gone be one of those stories where, oh, a young girl got killed, Halloween party, and it’s just gone die off, it’s not.”
We’re told Cooper was really well known at West Charlotte and had grown her clientele among the students. When they return on Wednesday, it’s likely going to be a difficult day.
Expect the district to have counselors at the school, ready to help anyone who may be having a tough time.
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