February 21, 2011

PHOENIX – “He took a father, and a son and a brother.”

You can hear the frustration and anger in Dollie’s voice. Her son, 34-year-old Danny Cooper, was murdered on a Saturday afternoon, May 29, 2010.

Cooper was riding in the passenger seat of a suburban, his 9-year-old in the back seat behind him. Dollie said Cooper was on his way to do some work for his friend’s mother.

Phoenix police sergeant Darren Burch says the driver of the suburban got into a minor crash, then had an argument with a guy in a white sedan. It all happened near 19th Avenue and Southern.

“It was the actual driver of the white passenger car that produced a firearm and shot several times at the victim’s vehicle,” Burch said.

He missed and hit Danny Cooper instead, killing him in front of his young son.

“He was a great guy,” Dollie said. “Great, great son, great father. He’s just a fun guy, loving guy. I miss him dearly. I miss him so much.”

Dollie says Danny was not a trouble maker and except for maybe a couple of traffic tickets, he’d had no contact with police. He has 4 children, the youngest a baby he never got to meet, who was born after his murder. He liked fishing and nature shows.

“He played video games with his sons,” Dollie said. “He liked to play basketball with his sons. He liked his family. He liked spending time with his family.”

Burch said the vehicle was possibly a 2000 Chevy Malibu. It had a rear spoiler and tinted windows and damage to the rear bumper from the collision. The suspect is a black male in his early 20’s with short black hair and a dark complexion.

“He’s a father,” Dollie exclaimed. “You took my grandkids’ dad away. You took my son.”