Steven Albert Cooper was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for shooting two Lincoln Park convenience store clerks in their backs as he robbed the store.
The sentencing, the result of a March 11 plea agreement, came over the objection of a probation officer who said it wasn't strong enough to fit the crime.
John Serre, a probation officer with Arrowhead Regional Corrections, told St. Louis District Court Judge Mark Munger that because of the "heinous" nature of the crimes, Cooper, now 18, should serve consecutive instead of concurrent sentences, doubling his time in prison.
But Prosecutor Charles Schumacher defended the agreement, noting that Cooper had just turned 15 when the crimes were committed.
"The victims not only agreed to it but urged us to resolve the case," Schumacher said.
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"Certainly it's a heinous crime," Schumacher added. "It resulted in a great amount of suffering on behalf of the victims and a certain amount of outrage on the part of the community."
Cooper entered the Interstate Spur, 2700 W. Michigan St., on Nov. 6, 2006, and shot clerk Christopher Davis three times. When another clerk, Daniel Warner, tried to escape over the service counter, he also shot Warner three times. Cooper then took money. Each victim sustained collapsed lungs, and Davis suffered a broken rib. Each has one bullet lodged near his spine that can't be removed because surgery would be too dangerous.
Neither Warner nor Cooper appeared at the sentencing, but victim witness investigator Sonia Bonilla spoke on their behalf.
"The trauma impacted their entire lives ... in a profound way," Bonilla said. "They were left to struggle with the unanswerable question of why."
Public defender Rebecca Shaw noted that two psychologists concluded that Cooper could have been rehabilitated if he had been kept in the juvenile system. "There is no question that Steven committed a violent act," Shaw said. "But he is not a monster."
Cooper's grandmother, Mary Birgans of Chicago, echoed that theme. In the hallway after the sentencing, Birgans said Cooper had lived with her until moving to Duluth a few months before the shooting. "My grandson is no monster," she said. "He's nothing like that. All the older people loved him."
Birgans and other family members and friends were angry that they hadn't been allowed to hug Cooper before he was taken away. Cooper showed no emotion except to smile and exchange waves with a toddler in the courtroom before the hearing began. As he was being led away, several people said, "We love you, Buddha." Birgans said he had acquired that nickname as a little child when he had a chubby build reminiscent of a Buddha figure.
In handing down the sentence, Munger acknowledged what he called Cooper's "unfortunate life." "He has had two parents who were violent to each other ... something no child should have to endure. ... (But) public safety demands in this case ... that he had to pay his dues in some fashion."
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Munger told Cooper prison would be a negative experience, but he said it could also give him an opportunity to change his life.
"You have been steeped in and educated in and trained in violence," Munger said. "You have a chance to break that cycle."
Cooper will be credited for 1,289 days already served.
