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BEDFORD -- An Everett woman who fatally choked a 3-year-old boy in 2022 was sentenced to 40 to 80 years in prison after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of felony third-degree murder Monday afternoon in Bedford County Court.
Chelsea Renae Cooley, 33, also pleaded guilty to one felony count each of endangering the welfare of a child and strangulation.
President Judge Travis Livengood sentenced Cooley to 40 years in prison for the third-degree murder charge and 20 years in prison for each of the other felony charges. He ordered that the terms run consecutively to each other, that all remaining charges be dropped and that Cooley have no contact with the victim's family.
Cooley faced life in prison if found guilty of criminal homicide.
The incident that led to the boy's death took place at Cooley's home on the 100 block of East First Street, Everett Borough, at 9:16 p.m. on May 28, 2022.
The child, who was the son of Cooley's boyfriend at the time, was found "unresponsive, cold to the touch and blue" with "something lodged in his throat," Senior Deputy Attorney General Evan Lowry said while detailing the allegations against Cooley.
The objects lodged in the victim's throat were later found to be wet wipes, and doctors had to use "eight to 10 inch forceps to remove" them, Lowry said.
Extensive bruising was also seen on the victim's body, with medical professionals testifying during Cooley's preliminary hearing on Sept. 21, 2022, that the victim "could not have done these things to himself."
The victim was first taken to UPMC Bedford, where doctors were able to restart his heart before having him flown to UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, where he later died.
After performing the victim's autopsy, a medical examiner ruled the victim's death a homicide and that an "adult-sized individual" manually strangled the victim due to the size of the marks left on his neck, Lowry said.
The victim's father was at work at the time of the incident, leaving the victim in the sole care of Cooley. A neighbor said they heard screaming and a woman's voice yelling "shut up" around the time investigators determined the victim sustained his injuries.
"The facts of this case are horrific," wrote Henry. "This defendant was responsible for caring for this child, and instead she did the unthinkable. She brutally murdered him, a defenseless and innocent three-year-old child. This defendant's actions are devastating to the child's loved ones, but we hope today's admission and sentence offer a measure of justice."
Prior to Livengood hearing the victim impact statements prepared by the victim's parents, Cooley's attorney Mary Schaffer, who was filling in for Thomas M. Dickey, requested on Cooley's behalf that she be removed from the courtroom. When asked why, Shaffer explained that Cooley did not want to be present for the statements.
"No, she's going to stay right there," Livengood said.
The victim's father, Travis Young Sr., had Senior Deputy Attorney General Heather Serrano read his statement to the court while he stood by. In his statement, he told Cooley that she had destroyed his life and that he would never forgive her.
"How can someone kill a kid and then sleep next to his father that same night?" Young asked rhetorically.
He said that this experience was something that "no one should have to go through."
"I hope he haunts you every single second of your pathetic life that you spend in prison," Young said.
The victim's mother, Rachel Rueter, read her own statement, saying that the past two years have been "very difficult to push through."
"This has hurt me beyond anything you can imagine," Rueter said. "He was the one who called me 'mama' first."
Rueter told Cooley that she wouldn't be able to forget what she did, but that she forgave her because the victim wouldn't want her to hold on to that grudge.
"(The victim) trusted you, looked up to you, and that trust was broken," Rueter said.
Following these statements, Lowry and Serrano told Livengood that the victim's parents were on board with the plea agreement because they wanted to spare the family the pain of having to go through a trial and that they wanted closure.
While Livengood said that he had "no problem with the agreement," he wondered "why Cooley requested to stay out of the courtroom because as I watched her, she showed no remorse whatsoever."
Cooley remained facing forward and did not look at anyone while the victim impact statements were being read. When given the opportunity to speak, she chose to remain silent.
"This is one of the most heinous acts that I have ever sentenced someone for," Livengood said, adding that Cooley degraded the dignity of the victim.
Livengood said that the "degree of anger and rage" that Cooley unleashed on the victim was "usually reserved for cases involving two adults," such as domestic violence incidents or crimes of passion.
"I find it hard to believe that someone could be that angry with a 3-year-old," Livengood said. "You have earned every single day of the 40 years that you're about to get."
Once the proceedings were concluded, Cooley appeared unbothered by her sentence and mouthed 'I love you' to someone in the gallery as she was led from the courtroom.
Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.