Bensalem teenager sentenced to at least 15 years in prison for fatally shooting 12-year-old friend

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Bucks County teenager has pleaded guilty to the 2022 shooting death of her 12-year-old friend in Bensalem, but her attorney says they still don’t exactly know what happened.

Ash Cooper pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for shooting and killing her 12-year-old friend, Morgan Connors, in the Ridge Trailer Park on Gibson Road on Nov. 25, 2022.

Cooper was 16 at the time of the shooting and is now 18. She was sentenced to 15 to 40 years in prison.

Cooper’s attorney, Paul Lang, said they still don’t exactly know what happened, as Cooper has been unable to talk about what transpired on the day of the shooting.

“Trauma and grief,” he said. “The situation involves her best friend. I think that this is part of the healing process, the admission of guilt and now working on the specific details. And that’s what Ash’s path to redemption requires, and she’s working on it.

“The specific details, other than the admission of the murder itself, were not disclosed.”

Bensalem police received a call after Cooper asked another friend via video chat for help disposing of the body . When police arrived, Cooper was found hiding in the woods. At a previous hearing, a detective testified that he heard Cooper say, “It was an accident.”

The gun belonged to Cooper’s father and was kept in a safe, but Cooper was able to bypass the lock.

Cooper is transgender and the shooting happened before she transitioned.

Prosecutors read a letter at sentencing from the victim’s grandfather that described their family’s pain, saying, “The human heart is not built for such heartbreak.”