Convicted Girlfriend Killer Sentenced in Missing Body Case

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: good afternoon ladies and gentlemen the court is assembled in case of state of Georgia versus oh no no no no I don't have the right paperwork I can't sound a case number madam clerk you got our case number pulled up no 26 are 9-6 let me wait on that file I just finished with this one or the state can sound it for me what [00:00:48] Speaker 2: you got yes your honor as to 26 are 0 9-6 we're here for the sentencing on the state versus Ryan to Mel who was convicted on all eight counts of the indictment and that being count one malice murder count two felony murder count three felony murder four aggravated assault count five aggravated battery count six possession of firearm during commission of a felony count seven possession of firearm during commission of a felony and eight concealing death of another counts two through six six will all that will all merge so what would the court will be looking at sentencing him on is count one malice murder count seven possession of firearm during commission of a felony and count eight concealing death of another and before I go into argument after discussion with mr edwards we think we would like for uh ms thornton would like to go ahead and make her victim impact statement when the court's ready [00:02:03] Speaker 1: all right ms thornton may come up at this time good afternoon ms thornton [00:02:26] Speaker 3: good afternoon good afternoon your honor and members of the court i am the mother of the cambria i am here as a victim of what happened to my daughter and as the grandmother of the child she left behind my daughter's son jordan i have lived through the unthinkable when my daughter was murdered jordan was just a baby the person who did this to my family is jordan's father and he's in his courtroom today now preparing for sentencing he was found guilty on all eight counts today i stand before you not only to speak about the crimes that occurred but about the lifelong impact that has been forced on our family since the murder my life has been shot by absence and grief jordan and i had to have a build a new life i was just lost trying to care for him raise him and protect him from the pain that caused with growing up without his mother hurts nothing can do what was done nothing could bring my daughter back but jordan deserves to know that he is loved that he has not that he has not forgotten and that the person responsible would be held fully accountable i want the court to understand something clearly this case is not only about what was taken from my daughter's life is it is also about what has been taken from us afterwards the chance to grieve properly the chance to memorize her the chance to have closure even now the defendant refuses to tell where my body where my daughter body is located he refuses to provide that one piece of information that will allow me to agree with dignity closure is not just a word for me closure is where you can finally go where you can finally mourn your daughter without uncertainty where you can finally have answers without the location of her body my grief have no rest in place every day is longer than it should be every day i love to leave with unanswered questions that should have been resolved long ago your honor and members of the court i am asking this court to take this very seriously when a person refused to provide the truth after such a cry it deepens the home it prolongs suffering it keeps the victim family trapped in uncertainty a sentence that reflects the full serum is the way he did across every country to have been convicted and the devastation it had caused i also want to be direct with the defendant mr cooper my daughter was not just a case number she was not a statistic she was a cambria tumor to me and she did matter jordan deserved his mama i deserve the truth you have an opportunity to give me that closure by telling me where my baby body is if you have any heart left in you on her before i leave here today please give me that closure please tell me where my baby is please oh baby you tell me where my baby is so i can go all of my life and jordy can at least have a place to go to memorize i can't give my baby a purple bed the message that the court sends matters to me to jordan and to every family that holds the justice system will protect children and punish those who destroy lives my family has endured enough for the long years mr cooper for four long years i was on feet i was on hands i was in places i had no business going i was in woody areas walking in water i was going to places i mean i even thought about going before day in day out i was out looking for my baby because that's what a mom's supposed to do i was deaf four years four hard years if you ain't gonna do it for me do it for your son do it for jordan one day jordan got to grow up he don't want to know he don't want to know where his mama is he don't want to know what happened to his mama he's already asking questions give us that close to have a heart to have a heart give us that close to do it for you someone you ain't gotta do it for me do it for you someone please um my family has to do it enough we had carried this law for too long i ask the court for a sentence that matches the severity of the crimes and long-life consequences that follow thank you all the members of the court thank you [00:09:18] Speaker 1: any other statements yes your honor [00:09:22] Speaker 2: i know your honor heard the over a week-long trial and heard the evidence but i do want to point out a few things in that and one is that we all heard the pattern of violence that this defendant the ongoing pattern of violence that he showed against the cambria tumor we heard three incidences leading up to the murder one four months before the murder two of which he had a firearm with him we heard the incident of 2021 in july 2021 at the salon where he pointed a gun at her where he hit her in the head causing a i think they said goose egg or a hematoma on her head where she had to run into a business half naked um beaten on the door and when they asked the defendant about it at the police station he's laughing he laughs about her injuries he's even holding his hand his own video we all saw it that shows what kind of person he is your honor then we get to the trailer incident in march of 2022 she's called for help lecambria is trying to leave the trailer with jordan who is a newborn baby at this point while the defendant is beating on her causing her to drop the baby a newborn baby hits the ground and then what does the defendant do he walks up to lecambria and he stomps her and he kicks her that's the kind of person he is then we have her just four months before the murder having to run to her family member's house where she gets there because he's been beating on her again and emtm police saw the injuries when she got to her um i believe it was her aunt or family member's house they said she was wet she had wet herself she was so upset and these are just the things we know about we don't know about all the other incidents these are these but these are enough it shows his ongoing increasing pattern of violence there was multiple multiple witnesses and evidence that showed that he's always got a firearm he's had he had a firearm at the salon he had a firearm at the trailer tucked in his pants we know he had a firearm when he killed her and even after he kills her and disposes of her body he's still got a firearm because he's got it in his lap when he's telling teva davis about the brains on it on the roof of his car the roof of his car he's still driving around that's the kind of person we're talking about that is cold calculating i mean there's just no other explanation your honor and when he's finally asked about her going missing the only thing he says in the interview well i'm worried about my job he's not worried about a son he's not worried about him he's worried about himself to the point that the next day he's already calling another girl that's cold that this is calculated it's just shows the kind of person he is you know he goes on out even after killing her hiding the body he goes on hiding evidence um you know does not continues to drive the car like i said still carrying weapons and then you know he didn't even care about a son what did you call and ask about your son no i didn't no i didn't but he has taken jordan's mother away he will jordan will never have his mother thank goodness he's got miss thornton and all of her family but he has left him without a mother and i think i cannot obviously say it as good as miss thornton's already said it but basically mr cooper the defendant has sentenced her has sentenced melissa thornton to life without parole he has sentenced her to life with no parole from the pain of this incident no parole from the agony and no parole from the hopelessness that she still lives with and will continue to live with and that comes from just like she said not knowing where her child is not being able to have a funeral for her child not being able to have a place to go visit her child all of that's been taken away no closure as she said no peace and no closure everything about this trial it's even beyond murder it's he continued to commit crimes he continued to show how cold he was he sentenced her to that and your honor for that reason we are asking that you sentence him on count one malice murder to life without parole and on count seven and eight we're asking that you um do five years consecutive on count seven which is required by law and then count eight would be five sorry 10 years consecutive to count seven so what we are essentially asking for is life without parole plus 15 years thank you all right thank you miss mollis mr davis [00:14:52] Speaker 4: your honor the death of anyone is not something that we should take lightly we certainly don't on the defense side what we are here to talk about is the sentencing of mr cooper after the jury has already rendered their decision there is one thing i want to note to the court as the court sits as a 13th juror and that's likely to come up that should be known at this time that is that will be i think uncontroverted by the state the expert at least mr ogler that was presented by the state has already been his credibility has already been shot in any number of courts he has already been exposed for the court and he has already been exposed for giving opinions that are simply based on what he was paid and in this case i think that it will be shown that the testimony he gave was perjured he talked about one of the cases in which he was getting impeached where he contended that the person that he said to help out in the murder had testified truthfully at trial that case that case the chris band case is uncontroverted that that defendant had been convicted based on the efforts of rod engler and his staff and the individual that had testified falsely testified for the defense in the third trial and admitted that he had perjured himself for money on behalf of mr engler why is that important because all of the experts base their opinion on the testing that was done by someone else the experts did not do any independent testing the medical examiner for the last witness he didn't even have an office he worked out of a ups store he based his testimony on what was done before bianca fox is the gvi lab scientist who testified that the sample that was sent to her from the cushion of the car did not contain blood that was one of those samples where there was no that was not even a presumptive test however the medical examiner although his test results were negative which means he found nothing he based his conclusion that miss tumor had bled out in the car based on what he concluded miss faults had said and that was erroneous so there is going to be an issue about whether or not these witnesses testified falsely and the duty of the state to bring to the court's attention uh what it knew about their testimony it's also uncontroverted that neither one of them either mr engler or the medical examiner mr upshaw had actually seen the car they testified based on pictures and medical examiner in the in testify he he knows blood just based on looking at it in a picture i want to bring that issue up because i think that the court um should weigh the weight of the evidence that has come in the court sits just the 13th juror although the state has made a number of arguments in their presentation they never made or they have not made an argument as to why ryan cooper would deserve to spend the rest of his life in jail which is typically reserved for the most heinous individuals a serial killer uh etc someone who he would not of course as the court knows be eligible for parole for 30 years they presented no evidence that in 30 years even if they believe he committed the crime he could not be rehabilitated and that's the hallmark test for the court to look at is whether or not this is an individual incapable of being rehabilitated we've heard no evidence of that we've heard no evidence of a lengthy criminal history that is typically that is typically cited by the state when they're asking for a life without possibility of parole we've heard none of the things that are supportive uh sentencing a man to life at his age and um an opinion that he can't be rehabilitated there's been nothing presented to the court uh the victim's mind testified she's understandably upset she was talking about mr cooper identifying the body of course of course no one had said to her that mr cooper maintains his innocence and that's actually an inappropriate argument to make she's never spoken to mr cooper so there's no way that she would know what mr cooper may or may not have said someone had to tell her that for her to come in here and repeat it before this court it was an inappropriate argument so again judge there's been no argument made there's not even been an attempt to argue that mr cooper has had a series of convictions that would show that he is incorrigible that he can never be rehabilitated even in one of the domestic violence incidents that the state cited mr cooper was determined to be the victim in one of those incidents that's where the baby quote unquote had fell to the ground that was the incident in which they were both arrested and the witnesses testified to that so judge again um there's been no evidence that he is incorrigible that he can't be rehabilitated and that he should spend the rest of his life in jail without possibility of parole thank you all right [00:21:56] Speaker 1: thank you mr davis anything else no your honor all right um the court thanks um miss thornton for her courage in making her statement today and her courage for sitting through this trial which had to be a challenge uh presence every day she walked out when she needed to and she came back as soon as she could so um didn't go without being noticed typically close to what mr davis said um i'll be honest i've never sentenced anybody to life without parole my unspoken conversations with myself said i always wanted to leave people thinking they had a chance um but court finds this to be one of the most horrific trials that i've said to her and my kudos to i say what i believe when people do bad i say that when they do good i have to say that too so um i i think the doughty county district attorney's office did an exceptional job in the presentation of this case and the taxpayers of this county ought to be really proud of that and apd i'm not going to leave you out if you couldn't if you had to help them out okay all right so um i i do think that but um the evidence in this case was just out and out cringe-worthy and i don't cringe over a lot of things but it was just cringe-worthy and i don't feel like i'm alone in that based on the jury verdict that was turned returned in this case and the speed of that perk and it's a lot of other uh well i mean now you start acknowledging people you get in trouble but um the cambria had a lot of support and miss thornton had a lot of support there were a lot of friends families whomevers uh who also attended this trial on a daily basis and i thank you for your support of miss thornton and the cambria okay and little jordan okay the little jordan he has a little school uniform is that little jordan no okay is little jordan here okay all right um but i say i'll back to say the court um and i'm not going to go back through some of what i think i remember of the trial and um the testimony that resonates so strongly with the court uh about the brain spatters on the on the ceiling of the vehicle um although a part of me wants to empathize and understand mr cooper um i can't get over what has been found to be his actions so without more the court is going to send and i'm and like i said this is my first time doing this in school i've never sentenced anybody to life without the possibility of parole um but i am going to do it today um and i've never done this so the cons the the state is asking on count set that counts five seven and eight be consecutive yes your honor your count seven has to be yep count seven has to be yes okay so on the felony murder no firearm doing the commission of a felony the court will sentence you to five years and on the uh count eight concealing the death of another court sentences you to 10 years consecutive to the five um i'll look forward to the defense motion for new trial um where i am or i'm sure you'll urge me to be the 13th juror but we'll take up that at that time [00:26:46] Speaker 2: anything else that's what i'll speak and ask just for clarification so it's life without parole [00:26:54] Speaker 5: plus 15 years is that correct but i think i said 10 the sentencing order should be the the matter of hindering uh the discovery of the crime should be the next after life without parole followed by [00:27:14] Speaker 1: the gun charge in that order okay so we'll he'll be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole which is count one count eight concealing the death of another count eight is ten years consecutive to count one and then count seven possession of a fire under the commission of a felony is five years consecutive to count eight does that satisfy the state [00:27:44] Speaker 4: yes okay i think that the possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony is to run consecutive to the murder charge not to uh consecutive to the concealing the death of another it does not the statute doesn't require it to run consecutive to every charge it only requires it to run [00:28:09] Speaker 5: one consecutive to the uh the murder charge okay the state believes it's or it's correct [00:28:22] Speaker 1: okay i've changed it at the request of the state but we'll leave it like i just said it [00:28:29] Speaker 4: and if we need to amend the sentencing order we'll do that and okay um i've already been retained on the appeal i think in this case we're going to do a direct appeal uh given um the court's uh position and one of the things i have to do is to make sure that and i'll send just uh my typical motion is that the time is extended for filing the transcript i mean i would assume in this case the transcript may take six months or so uh to file so i would just ask and i'll submit the order to the court that the court reporter be given six months uh to file the transcript [00:29:17] Speaker 1: all right madam court reporter that's about right for you okay so she's you're satisfied it can be done in that time you are satisfied that it can be done in okay 120 days is 120 business days what do i give you 120 business days to get it done is that is that i've never done that i mean she said she has 120 business days to get it done yeah and i'll submit the order to the court when you're giving her where does that put us we don't know is that is that six months [00:30:05] Speaker 4: 120 days is business day business days business days i just said six months to incorporate [00:30:18] Speaker 1: every day but if we want to say 120 business days 120 business days does that sound good [00:30:26] Speaker 4: miss adams we'll say 120 business days from okay this day okay all right that's fine okay thank you very much [00:30:38] Speaker ?: yes [00:30:44] Speaker 1: credit for time served thank you for asking [00:30:57] Speaker 6: judges time served is going to be may 31st 2023 to current day august 7th 2026 1164 days [00:31:09] Speaker 1: okay okay anything else no your honor all right we stand adjourned thank you all [00:31:23] Speaker ?: you