A jealous teenager has been accused of stabbing her boyfriend to death after he refused to let her get into his phone and accused him of cheating.
Tadarius Massey, 19, died in hospital in Orlando on August 14 after allegedly being stabbed in the shoulder and heart during a fight with Zoe Cooper, 18, at her home.
Cooper claimed she acted in self-defense and it was not until November 15 that she was arrested at Texas Southern University in Houston by campus police.
She was charged with second-degree murder and faced court in Houston, but was released on November 20 and it is not clear if she was returned to Florida.
The teen admitted to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department that she stabbed Massey during a fight sparked by her demand to see inside his phone.
‘Cooper and Massey then had a prolonged physical altercation there they both struck one another and grappled with one another,’ court documents stated she told them.
‘Cooper during the argument said she armed herself with a knife, but then Massey took the knife and stabbed stuffed animals and out the knife down.’
She then got the knife back and mortally wounded Massey by stabbing him with it, she said. Cooper had a visibly bruised eye when police interviewed her.
Tadarius Massey, 19, died in hospital in Orlando on August 14 after being stabbed in the shoulder and heart
His girlfriend Zoe Cooper, 18, was charged with second-degree murder and faced court in Houston
However, no stabbed stuffed animals were found at the scene. Cooper also claimed Massey poured liquor on her during the fight, but no evidence of that was found either.
Witnesses told police they saw the pair outside the house after Massey was stabbed, and alleged Cooper was ‘frantic’ and said ‘I didn’t mean to’.
Cooper got into a silver car and drove Massey and the witnesses to hospital, dropped them off, and drove away. Massey died in hospital before police arrived.
The day after Massey’s death, Cooper posted an Instagram reel with photos of them, with the caption: ‘If I could take it back or trade place in a heartbeat I would #LLTD, I love u always I’m truly sorry for what I did it wasn’t supposed to be this way.’
An autopsy found other stabbing and slashing wounds on Massey’s left wrist and forearm and cut on his forehead and strangulation marks on his neck.
Further investigations uncovered an alleged pattern of abuse between the couple that led to Massey’s boss at Subway saying he sometimes came into work looking ‘beat up’.
Cooper sometimes came in to just watch him work without them speaking, he said.
After Cooper allegedly attacked him at Ocoee High School last December, Massey told the vice principal that she was again angry he wouldn’t let him see her phone, and accused him of talking to other women.
Massey with his mother Susanna Massey at his high school graduation
Further investigations uncovered an alleged pattern of abuse between the couple that led to Massey’s boss at Subway saying he sometimes came into work looking ‘beat up’
The school official said Massey told her he didn’t fight back, and Cooper had attacked him several times before and previously stabbed him.
Police found a photo of him with a new stab wound in his left shoulder from March 24 while searching his phone, and the autopsy found two healed stab wounds in the same spot.
Cooper sent abusive messages to Massey just days later on March 29, saying ‘I should have killed you,’ and ‘ima spit in yo grave [sic].’
Other messages read: ‘I wish you would’ve died that day,’ ‘I’m glad I stabbed you [sic]’.
Cooper was arrested at TSU the day after Orange County police asked them to take her into custody.
However, despite the serious charges, she was released and court documents appeared to indicate Orange County police rescinded their extradition request.
‘Demanding jurisdiction released hold, will not extradite,’ the document read.
Massey’s aunt Alicia Grant started a fundraiser on behalf of his mother Susanna Massey, which attracted $6,130 for his funeral.
‘He had his whole life ahead of him. Parents shouldn’t have to bury their children. This has been a tremendous and unexpected loss,’ she wrote.