The family of the late Princess Cooper has is asking government to hand over the body of their daughter for burial terming the process of uncovering the cause of death as a fruitless journey.
According to the Cooper’s Family since the death of their daughter, there has been avoidable missteps, baseless denier by the Government of Liberia through the LNP and the Justice Ministry within the investigation proceedings.
The Cooper family said it has come to the realization that there are difficulties, constrains, unfairness in trending the path to justice within Liberia and the road to obtaining justice is a rocky path, therefore the family now see their efforts in getting justice as a unproductive process.
Princess Cooper lifeless body was found at the back of the FAWAZ Building Materials store at the ELWA junction on March 24 this year.
However, a forensic investigation carried out by Pathologist Benedict Kole and others disclosed that she died of natural death as the result of tuberculosis she suffered from, which was rejected by her family.
With little or no information about the second autopsy, the Cooper family appeared to be frustrated in the process.
The family on Wednesday issued a released in Monrovia, raising serious of counts in which they said informed their decision to request for Princess body.
The cooper’s family indicated that they are yet to have tangible reasons for which the crime scene was totally exposed and not protected for a certain period due to the critical occurrence of the death of their daughter whom they described as a bright future Leader and a national asset.
They accused the police of showing lack of willingness to ensure residents of the FAWAZ Compound and nearby residents of the crime scene as well as eye witnesses whom they believed could have provided important information to the investigation and to be compared with the confirmed visible assessment.
Princess Cooper family argued that the Police is yet to provide information to the public as to what information they gathered from an unidentified Lebanese man as they did with other person of interest during the investigation.
They mentioned that the first abrupt Preliminary Report published by the Liberia National Police, which they confirmed that there were no foul play in the absence of medical examination, undermined the entire investigation process.
According to them, their formal complaint to the Government of Liberia in which they expressed their disapproval over the selection of Dr. Benedict Kolee to conduct the autopsy due to qualification concerns was never adhered to.
They explained that the LNP has even before and after the autopsy provide full-skill or Comprehensive Report from what was gathered from the investigation to allow the public to compare it with the agree government of Liberia Autopsy report; indicating that the family was and continue to be disrespected in regards to communication during the entire process.
“That with all the hurdles and resistances visibly notified in getting the Family’s designated Pathologists to land within the Country even after the very same Government of Liberia through H.E. Dr. George Manneh Weah’s offer seems to be a tangible contradiction and signals huge fraud as well as uncovered motives. That our many efforts made towards this process ranging from formal communications sent to the Ministry of Justice followed by boycotting the autopsy upon our confirmed notification that all of our communications and actions was never recognized by the Justice Ministry and the GOL at large, staging numerous of peaceful protests for justice during which times we were mal-handled, ruthlessly beaten, and incarcerated without charges, successfully contacting pathologists out of the Country which we considered to be independent”. the Cooper family said
They asserted that a total of five (5) forensic pathologists” who were resisted without purpose for three weeks all of which cited insecurity and resistance concerns declined the process.
Prince Death Cause outrage
The discoveries of Princes’ body on March 24 this year sparked serious public outcry from residents of Bushord Island. Hundreds of aggrieved citizens from District # 16 in Montserrado County staged a peaceful protest demanding justice for 25-year-old Princess Cooper, with a call on members of the 54th National Legislature to enact a law compelling the installation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTVs) at all large businesses and companies operating in Liberia.
In a petition statement presented under the signatures of the group’s Chairman and Secretary General Alexander Howard and Alphonsus S. Weah respectively, the aggrieved citizens observed that since the inception of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) led government of President George Manneh Weah, “mysterious deaths and ritualistic killings are becoming the order of the day in Liberia”.
“We, members of the St. Paul Bridge Community located in the Borough of New Kru Town on the Bushrod Island, under the banner Citizens United To Ensure Justice For Princess Cooper, have gathered before the Capitol Building today, with bleeding hearts to mourn and demand justice for the mysterious death of our daughter, sister, niece, aunt, friend, neighbor and community member, the late Princess Cooper-a caterer, beautician and a mother of a seven year-old boy”.
Died of natural cause
Following mounting public outcry, the government order an autopsy, which result reveled that Princess died pulmonary tuberculosis.
According to Dr. Benedict Kolee, Princess’ cause of death was natural and caused by hemorrhagic shock.
Hemorrhagic shock is a type of hypovolemic shock, where intravascular blood loss and resulting to alterations in the cell due to the hypoxia result in tissue and organ dysfunction, leading to death, once a certain threshold level is exceeded.
The autopsy report by Dr. Kolee and his colleague, Dr. Zoebon B. Kpadeh, added that other causes of death include massive hemorrhage from ruptured Rasmussen aneurysm and erosion of bronchial vessels and progressive secondary pulmonary tuberculosis.
Massive hemoptysis arising from a Rasmussen’s aneurysm is a potentially life-threatening condition involving bleeding from the pulmonary or bronchial vasculature which is usually due to higher pressure of the bronchial system.
In cases where bronchial artery embolization has not yet been performed, mortality approaches 70 percent.
“In our professional and expert opinion, the manner of death is NATURAL,” the pathologists wrote. Dr. Kole then challenged the Public to have him executed if any autopsy report prove otherwise.
Family reject Autopsy
On April 18, 2022, Princess’ family rejected the report of the autopsy conducted on their deceased relative by the Government of Liberia.
The family, through their spokesperson, Dr. Abel Momo, rejected the report and is now consulting with its team of lawyers to decide the next move.
“We feel that what was reported is not consistent with the normal happenings of our sister, and we think that the report, as from the family standpoint, we cannot take such a report from the Liberian Government. We are still discussing as a family, what is the way forward, but we think the report and what came is not consistent with the pattern of death,” Dr. Momo said.
Dr. Momo said that prior to the announcement, the government did not inform the family, and they only learned about the release of the autopsy report on social media.
There was no official communication sent to the family, nor through our lawyer that they would have announced the report today. We only saw it on Facebook posts and heard it from media practitioners. So we were not officially informed. And based on that, we got the information at the 11th hour through heresy or they say.”
He also revealed that although communication was sent to the family to witness the autopsy, the family did not attend because all of their concerns raised with the Ministry of Justice were not adhered to. Asked, what were the concerns raised, he fell short of telling the press.
President Weah calls for another Autopsy
Days after the Cooper family rejected the Autopsy report; President George Manneh Weah has directed Justice Minister Frank Musah Dean to avail the remains of the late Princess Cooper for the conduct of a second autopsy.
The decision, he said, is to lend support to the bereaved family, in their quest to bring closure to the circumstances surrounding the death of their loved one along with concerns raised by some citizens with the initial autopsy.
President Weah said the government will fund the conduct of the second autopsy and called on the family to designate a pathologist of their choice, possessing the requisite credentials and qualifications.
The Liberian urged Minister Dean to ensure that all civil society, political and other interest groups and individuals who have been involved with advocacy in the case to cooperate with the family and send the name of a designated qualified pathologist to the government in the soonest possible time for the conduct of the second autopsy.
He reiterated his condolences to the bereaved family, saying the death of any Liberian, whether by natural or unnatural causes, is concerning to the government.
The President has however called on the public to respect Liberian professionals. He reminded them that the pathologists who carried out the initial autopsy were trained to international standards by the Government of Liberia with support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
