Donae Donnie Nya Cooper was 20 when she was shot and killed after a confrontation at a residence in Philadelphia’s Tioga-Nicetown area in the early hours of July 15, 2022. She was Donna Cooper’s only child and a student at Lincoln University. In the weeks before the shooting she had been communicating with a new romantic interest and left her mother’s home that night to see him.

Police say an argument developed at the man’s North 17th Street residence; reports say Cooper allegedly threw household items and used a small Taser, then left and returned shortly afterward. Officers found evidence of gunfire and a spent shell casing near the front door; a semiautomatic handgun was recovered a few feet from the doorway. Cooper was taken to Temple University Hospital in a private vehicle with a gunshot wound to the back of her neck and died soon after arrival.

Police described the incident as domestic-related and took the man, described as Cooper’s boyfriend and in his 20s, into custody. He later acknowledged shooting her and said he acted in self-defense; prosecutors did not bring criminal charges, with later reporting describing the shooting as considered justified under Pennsylvania’s self-defense or Stand Your Ground provisions. Cooper’s mother disputes that conclusion and has pushed for the case to be re-examined.