Man sentenced to 7 years for death of infant daughter

A judge stuck to her promise to sentence a 31-year-old Clinton Township to seven years in prison for the death of his 5-month-old daughter nearly four years ago.

Judge Diane Druzinski said she didn’t see a reason to deviate from her prior “Cobb’s agreement” to sentence Anthony Cooper-Adams to seven, up to a maximum of 30, years after Cooper-Adams pleaded no contest in May to firstdegree child abuse for the death of Aubrey Cooper.

He was originally charged with first-degree felony murder and went to trial in Macomb County Circuit Court but a mistrial was ordered because a jailhouse acquaintance of Cooper-Adams flirted with a juror. The incident, which took place during a recess during deliberations in a courthouse hallway, was witnessed by other jurors.

The timing of the mistrial spawned speculation about the potential verdict among parties involved in the case.

Druzinski said during the remote hearing held over the Zoom video platform she doesn’t know what the verdict would have been if the jury continued deliberating or what it would be if a second trial was held.

“I refuse to speculate what I think the jury verdict would have been,” Druzinski said. “We just don’t know what would have happened the first time around or what would happen the second time around . ... I do believe that the original Cobb’s agreement in the amount of seven years was appropriate. It is proportionate.”

She also noted that Khadijah Cooper, the mother of the child, the county Prosecutor’s Office and police agree with the deal.

Khadijah Cooper testified against her estranged husband at the trial but did not wish to go through the trauma of having “to relive the details and agony of her daughter’s death” in a second trial, said Assistant Macomb Prosecutor Bruce Elsey, who was substituting for trial prosecutor Sian Hengeveld. Khadijah Cooper did not make a statement at the sentencing but was watching over video, Elsey said.

Cooper-Adams admitted he tossed Aubrey onto a bed in their Clinton Township apartment the night of Sept. 9, 2016, before taking her to a hospital about 6:45 a.m. the next morning, where she died of head trauma.

Cooper-Adams was arrested 18 months after Aubrey’s death, in March 2018, after an interview with police.

In his statement at the sentencing, Cooper-Adams apologized.

“I know the severity of this case, your honor, and I am very remorseful for what happened. Your honor, I do accept my responsibilities. There probably won’t be a day that goes by that I won’t be suffering from this situation. I always think about it. Your honor, I’m really not a bad person. I’ve made some bad decisions. If you can give me a chance and go forward with the agreement we had, I can promise you, you won’t regret it.”

Cooper-Adams has a prior marijuana-possession conviction in Macomb County.

Druzinski commended Cooper-Adams’ attorney, Timothy Kohler, and Hengeveld in resolving the case under “extraordinary circumstances.”

“In terms of the advocacy on both sides of this case, it’s been extraordinary,” Druzinski said. “It’s been above and beyond the call in a very difficult, difficult long, pending case.”

Khadijah Cooper and Cooper-Adams have a second child and officials said they expect the couple to divorce.