Norfolk Teen Amari Cooper Shot And Killed Outside Charlotte Halloween Party
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA — A North Carolina family is grieving the heartbreaking loss of 17-year-old Amari Cooper, a Norfolk native who was shot and killed early Saturday morning while attending a Halloween party in north Charlotte.
Loved ones say Amari, affectionately known as “Mari,” had already picked out her cap and gown for her West Charlotte High School graduation set for February. Instead, her mother, Shante Robinson, is now preparing for her daughter’s funeral — one that comes far too soon.
According to Robinson, Amari and her younger sister left home Friday night to attend a Halloween party. But moments after they arrived, tragedy struck.
“When they got to the party and got out the car and were walking towards the house there was a lot of gunshots,” Robinson told reporters. “They all started running and hiding behind trees and mailboxes, and when they looked back, Mari fell in a ditch.”
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police say officers responded to a shooting around 12:30 a.m. Saturday on Old Plank Road. When they arrived, they found Amari suffering from a gunshot wound. She was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The senseless act has shattered a tight-knit family both in Charlotte and Hampton Roads, Virginia, where Amari was born and raised before moving with her mother at age three.
Her grandfather, Michael Robinson, is begging the shooter to come forward:
“Have a heart, turn yourself in,” he said. “You did a man’s job or a cowardly job. Be a man and face the facts.”
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) has not released details about a suspect or motive, but family members believe another teen may be responsible.
“I just want whoever did this or whoever knows who did this to know I’m gonna get justice,” Robinson vowed. “There are so many people that love my daughter — I don’t even think she knew how loved she was.”
Amari leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter, now being cared for by her grandmother. A GoFundMe created by a Newport News woman is helping the family with funeral and living expenses.
1 thought on “Norfolk Teen Amari Cooper Killed At Charlotte Halloween Party”
The people who were there know who the shooter is.
RIP Young Lady.