Stormy Cofer seeks new trial in 2013 murder after learning of plea offer, say attorneys

Stormy Nicole Cofer briefly was in a Rapides Parish courtroom in early April as she continues to appeal her life sentence for the 2013 murder of 18-year-old Keiunna Collins, a case that still sparks interest across the country after it was featured on a cable television show.

Central to her application for post-conviction relief her attorneys filed in the 9th Judicial District Court appears to be a claim that her trial attorney, now-Judge David Michael Williams, didn't tell her about a plea agreement offer of 30 years in prison made by the state during her trial.

What happened between Cofer and Collins?

Cofer shot Collins once on Oct. 21, 2013, firing from inside a car as Collins and a group of friends were heading to a convenience store near Dallas and Lee streets in Alexandria. The bullet tore through her left side, passing through her lungs and heart and breaking ribs before stopping in her right arm.

She fell immediately, scraping the right side of her face on the pavement. During Cofer's trial, a pathologist testified that Collins lost one-third of her blood from the shot he called a "distance-range wound," meaning the bullet came from more than 3 feet away before hitting her.

The two women had been feuding because they had been involved with the same man, and he apparently had been playing them against each other. Tensions rose between them, but a mutual friend got them to meet and talk things out.

But the feud flared again the next day, and Collins was shot.

Cofer was found guilty in September 2015 by a Rapides Parish jury and was sentenced to mandatory life sentence without the possibility of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

The man who had been involved with both women did not testify at the trial, nor was he charged with any crime in connection to Collins' murder.

1st day of testimony: Witnesses testify they saw Stormy Cofer shoot Keiunna Collins from car

'I watched her die in my arms': Shooting witnesses, driver, pathologist testify in 2nd day of Cofer trial

4 hours of deliberation: Stormy Cofer found guilty of 2nd-degree murder

'Already forgive you': Cofer gets life in shooting death of Alexandria woman

The appeal and post-conviction progress

Since then, she's unsuccessfully appealed to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal and the Louisiana Supreme Court.

The New Orleans-based attorneys working on her behalf, Autumn Town and Graham Bosworth, filed an application for post-conviction relief in 2020 that Judge Mary Lauve Doggett, who presided over Cofer's trial, denied as premature.

But she granted another motion to halt activity regarding the post-conviction relief matter until attorneys could get materials concerning Cofer's trial.

An amended application for post-conviction relief was filed in May. An evidentiary hearing was scheduled for April 15, but the new judge presiding over the case, Judge Chris Hazel, rescheduled it for June 17.

The memorandum with the application expounds on multiple claims as to why Cofer, now 31, should be entitled to relief, including that she did not have adequate counsel during her trial.

It claims her defense attorney, David Williams, didn't tell Cofer about the plea offer until October 2019 and that should entitle her to a new trial.

Williams "confirmed" to Cofer's new attorneys that, in the middle of her trial, the Rapides Parish District Attorney's Office said it would consider reducing the charge against her if she would agree to a 30-year prison sentence, it reads.

"Mr. Williams has confirmed that he has no recollection of ever conveying this offer at trial and that it was only in October of 2019 that Mr. Williams informed Ms. Cofer that a potential plea offer had been presented," according to the filing.

It also claims that an alleged incident of juror misconduct was never reported to court officials. Two jurors reportedly told Williams' co-counsel that another juror had his cell phone during deliberations and used it to do research "to petition for a conviction."

Williams also told Cofer about this in October 2019, it reads.

The jury took almost four hours to reach a 10-2 verdict in Cofer's case. At one point, jurors sent a note to Doggett to say they were deadlocked at 8-4, but she told them to keep deliberating.

About half an hour later, they returned with the guilty verdict.

The 10-2 verdict itself is another point in the argument that Cofer deserves relief. Less than two years after Cofer's conviction, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Ramos vs. Louisiana that the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires a unanimous verdict for serious crimes.

But the Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that it's not retroactive and that states should decide whether to apply it in older cases.

Rapides Parish District Attorney Phillip Terrell earlier this month testified against Senate Bill 383 would allow the decision to be retroactive in Louisiana.

And, in a filing from September, Town does acknowledge the Supreme Court's decision that Ramos is not retroactive.

'For My Man' brings support

In March 2019, the TV One cable network aired an episode of "For My Man" based on the case. The true crime show focused on Collins' and Cofer's relationships with a man nicknamed "Blaze," a pseudonym for the episode, how he got Collins to eye Cofer with suspicion and how the feud between the two woman began with a shoulder bump from Collins in a local store.

Collins was the aggressor, while Cofer was defending herself, according to the episode called "Fanning the Flames." Family and friends of both women appeared in the episode, along with some of those involved in the case and trial.

Petitions seeking Cofer's release or a new trial for her sprung up after the episode initially aired and its rebroadcasts. It's scheduled to air again on May 7, according to the network's website.

In January, copies of two petitions and the signatures on them were filed with the court. Also filed were 26 letters of support written by fellow inmates and others who have known Cofer since she was imprisoned.

Most of the letters mentioned Cofer's love for her children, how she had changed and now deserved a second chance. At least one spoke of how she's expressed remorse for Collins' murder.

The court noted receiving the documents but took no other action.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Stormy Cofer seeks new trial in 2013 murder after learning of plea offer, say attorneys