New York detectives returned to the Bronx on Friday without the man they had picked up in Cobb County Wednesday night for a 1991 homicide.
The 38-year-old murder suspect, Raoul Desmin Cooper, is fighting extradition and now the governors of the two states will have to resolve the issue of sending him to New York to face murder charges — a process that is usually routine.
Returning on Friday would have been simpler, Bronx homicide detective Michael DePaolisa said soon after he arrived in New York Friday. "He has to come back."
The detective said tips in late 2007 or early 2008 led him and partner Nick Ciuffi to reopen the investigation into the 18-year-old crime, the shooting death of Moises Gallegos. DePaolis said the 17-year-old was shot in the face by two men who wanted his 8-ball jacket, a style that was popular then and the motive for many robberies in New York in the early 90s.
Another man suspected in the crime has already been charged. DePaolisa said he expected a grand jury to soon indict Cooper for second degree murder, which brings a prison term of 25 years to life.
"He didn't do it. That's No. 1," said Cooper's mother, Vola Sharon Cooper.
Raoul Cooper has lived in Georgia since 1998. He moved south "to be near his cousins," Vola Cooper said, and his job was installing fiber optic cable.
A search of records showed Cooper was registered to vote in Georgia and other public records show he lived in Atlanta, Decatur, Lithonia, Marietta, Norcross, Smyrna, Snellville and now Austell.
Both the mother and the detective said Raoul Cooper was not hiding.
Wednesday night, Cooper was arrested in a vacant parking lot near the intersection of Floyd and Nickajack roads in Mableton, Cobb County police said.
Raoul Cooper, who thought he was meeting local police to talk about a child neglect case, was almost immediately surrounded by New York City police and Cobb police and a SWAT team.
Maj. Paula Sparks said the show of force was necessary because officers feared an arrest warrant on murder charges might cause Raoul to become dangerous even though he had talked to New York City detectives several times, once a few months ago when investigators were in Georgia.
"We were seeking a warrant for homicide," Sparks said. "We were making a cold contact that day and we didn't know if there will be further cooperation. In an abundance of caution, we were just making sure we were well covered."
Vola Cooper, retired from the U.S. Postal Service who lives in New York, said she knew little about the crime her son is accused of committing or of his status now that he is in custody, for now in the Cobb County jail.
"I'm only hearing things from relatives down there [in metro Atlanta]," she said. "I'm trying to find out what's going on. His father and I are upset beyond measure. He was doing so well. I raised him right. I raised him in the church."
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