Erie man charged in connection with fatal ghost-gun shooting accused in another shooting
An Erie man charged in December with taking a "ghost gun" from the scene of a fatal shooting in the city in July is now accused of being the wheelman in a shooting in a west Erie neighborhood in early January.
Kanye K. Cooley, 19, who is scheduled to appear in court next week for his preliminary hearing on charges on his accused actions related to the fatal shooting, is facing 20 charges, including felony counts of attempted aggravated assault, in a Jan. 9 shooting in the 200 block of Poplar Street.
Police accuse Cooley of driving a person, whose identity remained unknown Wednesday, to and from the scene of the shooting.
Cooley was arraigned on the charges in the Poplar Street shooting on March 10. He was free on bond in the case, and was free on unsecured bond in the shooting from July, when Erie police took him into custody Monday morning, according to city police arrest records. His bond in the fatal shooting case was revoked on Monday afternoon, and he remained in the Erie County Prison on charges in that case Wednesday, according to prison and online court records.
More: Police: 13-year-old handling 'ghost gun' when 16-year-old fatally shot in Erie in July
Ghost gun killing
Erie police in early December charged Cooley with a felony count of carrying a firearm without a license and with misdemeanor counts of possessing an instrument of crime and tampering with evidence in connection with the July 16 shooting of 16-year-old Dazmiere Cherry, who died five days later at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.
Investigators said a 13-year-old boy told them he was handling a "ghost gun" when it accidentally fired, with the shot striking Dazmiere in the head, as the 13-year-old racked the weapon inside a residence on Wayne Street.
The 13-year-old was charged as a juvenile in the shooting. The Erie County judge who handled his case confirmed to the Erie Times-News that the boy admitted to allegations of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a minor and was sentenced on Nov. 1 to a secure juvenile placement facility for an indefinite period of time.
The Erie Times-News is not using the name of the 13-year-old because his case was prosecuted in juvenile court and he was not charged as an adult.
Erie police accuse Cooley of picking up the gun used in the shooting and fleeing the Wayne Street residence with it after the 16-year-old was shot.
Cooley is scheduled to appear in court for his preliminary hearing in the case on Wednesday at 10 a.m., according to online court records.
Poplar Street shooting
The shooting in the 200 block of Poplar Street was reported on Jan. 9 at about 4:40 p.m. Erie police reported at the time that it appeared that two groups were shooting at each other, and that at least one vehicle was damaged in the exchange of gunfire.
There were no reported injuries from the incident.
Investigators said they recovered 16 9 mm shell casings at the scene.
According to information in Cooley's criminal complaint, one witness reported seeing a male in a gray hooded sweatshirt run to a white Nissan Pathfinder and get in the passenger side before the vehicle fled west across West Third Street. Another witness reported seeing a male in a gray hooded sweatshirt being shot at by another male who was chasing him before the male in the gray hooded sweatshirt got into a white sport-utility vehicle that then left heading west, detectives wrote in the complaint.
A third witness told police that a male with a white or gray hooded sweatshirt was shooting at two other males on Poplar Street before the two males chased the first male back to a white Pathfinder, according to information in the complaint.
Investigators said another witness reported spotting a handgun on the sidewalk in the 400 block of Peach Street shortly after the shooting. Police recovered the gun, and learned from surveillance video that the white Nissan Pathfinder traveled north on Peach Street before stopping at West Fourth Street. A male exited the vehicle before the vehicle turned right to travel east on West Fourth Street, detectives wrote in the complaint.
Police said they found the white Nissan Pathfinder in the roadway near the 1200 block of East 28th Street shortly after 5 p.m. on Jan. 9. Officers detained the vehicle and the driver, whom they identified as Cooley, and saw a bullet hole in the passenger side of the vehicle, according to the complaint.
Cooley refused to talk to detectives when they attempted to question him, detectives wrote in the complaint.
Investigators said Wednesday they are still working to identify the person who was with Cooley at the time of the shooting and is accused of firing 16 9mm rounds at the two people the person was seen chasing.
The neighborhood where the shooting took place has been the scene of a few other shootings over the past year. The most recent happened on Feb. 6, when Erie police officers who responded to a reported shooting in the area of West Third and Poplar Streets found bullet holes in a house in the 300 block of Poplar Street that was occupied at the time.
More: Erie police charge more suspects in related shootings that damaged house, wounded boy
Erie police have charged several people in that shooting, which they said was connected to a shootout on Cherry Street two days later in which a 14-year-old boy was wounded.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie man charged with taking gun in killing accused in Jan. shooting
