Mom pleads guilty to killing 2-month-old son who was found in couch cushion

CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (TCN) -- A 34-year-old woman will spend the next several years behind bars after pleading guilty to killing her 2-month-old son. The infant was found dead in a couch cushion with drugs in his system.

Court records show Jennifer Cooper entered the plea for second-degree murder, second-degree cruelty to children, and possession of a controlled substance just days before her trial was scheduled to begin on March 18. WSAV-TV reports a judge sentenced Cooper to eight years in prison with 12 years of probation following her release in connection with the death of her son Randy Taylor Jr.

On Aug. 3, 2023, Chatham County Police Department officers responded to a home on Quacco Road and found the deceased infant. Cooper was reportedly at the scene, and officers arrested her.

According to WTOC-TV, prosecutors claimed Cooper gave her son a bottle, then fell asleep on the couch. Cooper’s husband returned home that night and reportedly asked where Taylor Jr. was. Cooper reportedly "discovered that she was laying on top of the baby, who was found cold to the touch within the couch cushion."

A Chatham County prosecutor said at one of Cooper’s court hearings that the "living conditions in the home were deplorable, to say the least," and there were drugs near where the boy was found. Both Cooper and Taylor Jr. tested positive for meth. WSAV reports a detective also testified that injuries were found on his "neck, back, swelling near the eyes, blood on the baby’s face, and then an indention on top of the head."

Another of Cooper’s children died on the same couch a year prior from sudden infant death syndrome.

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