Son of Susan Cooper: Jacob Frazier sees justice for his mother
I remember it vividly. It was eighth grade English and Ms. Mullings had us watch a movie about the Holocaust called “The Pianist.” The film’s main character Władysław Szpilman (pronounced Vladislav Spielman) is portrayed by Adrian Brody.
In that class, I sat right next to Jacob Frazier, who said I looked like Szpilman and called me that for the rest of the school year.
That’s just how Frazier was. It seemed like he had a nickname for everyone. He was a social butterfly. He lived very loudly and unapologetically.
27-year-old Frazier was a longtime resident of Malvern. He lived a fairly normal life, fathering two children and working as a contractor. He loved spending time with family, shooting guns and working on trucks. He dreamed of learning to snowboard and flying for the first time (which he accomplished a few months ago) among other things.
Another goal of his was to see justice served for his mother, Susan Cooper, who was murdered in 2016. He achieved this goal just one week before going to his heavenly home after a longfought battle with brain cancer, when his mother’s killers were sentenced to life Wednesday, May 11. He died the following Wednesday.
“My nephew, Jacob Frazier, received his wings today at 10:17 this morning,” wrote Frazier’s aunt, Wendy Caddy, in a Facebook post. “He was diagnosed after his mom was murdered. He wanted to find her, find the killers and make sure justice was served. Well, he did all that. Last Wednesday is when we went to court for the sentencing phase. He accomplished his goal.”
The two 38-year-old men, Samuel “Big Hit” Sherman and Donald Bill Smith, received their sentences from a U.S. Chief District judge and are not eligible for parole.
Cooper went missing Sept. 26 of that year. Her body wasn’t found until early Aug. 2018, just days after Smith was arrested in connection to her disappearance.
“You told me ‘Nene, it’s a win-win either way it goes,” said Caddy. “If I live, I can bring more souls to Christ, and if I die, I get to go be with my mom and dad.”
Frazier was the third of Susan’s five children – four sons and one daughter with the late Micheal Joe Frazier. He also had “bonus” parents and siblings and half-siblings. His bonus mom, Misty King was his primary caretaker while he dealt with his health struggles.
He was diagnosed Sept. 3, 2019 with a brain tumor that turned out to be glioblastoma multiforme. His cancer was especially rare because glioblastoma multiforme is not usually known to metastasize, or grow outside of the brain. It spread to his nasal cavity, lymph nodes and spinal fluid.
“Not once did he blame God for anything happening with him,” said King. “Not once did he question God. Not once did he get angry with God. Jacob knew the Lord had a plan for him and he knew this would be his testimony. Jacob would always say it doesn’t matter what he goes through, it’s worth it if they can learn just one thing about this disease that could possibly help someone else in the future, then it was worth everything he went through.”
Doctors and specialists came together and published a 19-page research journal on Frazier’s condition. Medical students and doctors compared his tumor to over 12,000 other glioblastoma multiforme tumors and found none with the exact same mutations as his.
“We were originally told he would probably live about six months, give or take,” said King. “His faith in the Lord, in the grace of God and excellent doctors, he made it almost three years.”
After developing a bad headache that got worse for several days, Frazier went to the ER at Saline Memorial Hospital where a CAT scan revealed the tumor. Frazier did not respond to typical treatments used for his type of cancer. With a family history of rare cancers, the doctors tested him and found that he had Li-fraumeni syndrome.
He would go on to endure 12 brain surgeries and a nasal surgery, a shunt placement in the brain and a port placement in the chest as well as numerous radiation and chemo treatments and infusions.
Although the family did not know until later, his older half-sister died of the same disease. It was 2015 when
putated and it was donated to UAMS for research. When the doctors realized that he wasn’t responding to treatments, they thought to check a sample of the tissue from her amputated leg. That’s when they tested most of Frazier’s siblings and all tests came back negative.
“When the doctors would talk to Jacob about his progress and so forth he never questioned it,” said King. “He just let them talk, he didn’t care. All he would respond to them with is ‘God’s got me.’”
Frazier was raised in church, with his paternal grandfather leading a church in Hot Springs as a pastor. His faith carried him through the most challenging moments of his life and health struggles.
His faith was bigger than his own life, and touched countless others around him. He was an inspiration to plenty of people, including me.
As a believer, myself, seeing his rock-solid faith in the midst of his trials was nothing short of incredible. He was a bright flame that burned out too quickly, but he certainly did let his light shine. His example of faith will stick with me for the rest of my life, as I’m sure it will for countless others.
“About a year ago the doctors told him that he was out of treatment options,” King said. “Jacob told them that only God knows when his time is, and he feels like he has not fulfilled his purpose yet, and he feels like God’s not done with him. I believe Jacob’s purpose was to touch lives through his positivity and I also believe his purpose was to be there for his mother to say that she got justice for what happened to her.”
Frazier was many things to many people. He was a loving son, brother, father and friend. To me, he was one of the funnest classmates I had. He was determined. He left a legacy. He was a friend to everyone he met, and I’ll never forget the nickname that he gave me back in eighth grade or the beautiful person that he was. I can’t wait to see him again.