Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced that a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge sentenced Thomas Earl Cooper, 36, to 75 months in prison for causing the death of Tyrell Penney, 27, in July 2020.
Cooper was originally charged with one count of murder in the second degree with a firearm, one count of attempted murder in the second degree with a firearm, one count of assault in the first degree with a firearm and one count of unlawful use of a weapon with a firearm.
This investigation started on July 25, 2020 when the Portland Police Bureau responded to a shooting in the area of Southeast Division Street and Southeast 158th Avenue. When officers arrived, they located two shooting victims. One of the individuals, later identified as Penney, died on scene. Walker survived but was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a gunshot wound.
On August 13, 2020, a Multnomah County grand jury returned an indictment in this case.
On August 22, 2020, the U.S. Marshal’s Oregon Ad Hoc Fugitive Task Force, with the assistance of the Bend Police Department and the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team (CERT), located and arrested Cooper in the 700-block of Northwest 9th Street in Bend, Oregon.
The trial took place in front of Judge Christopher Marshall from May 20-31, 2024, with Deputy District Attorney Brad Kalbaugh and Chief Deputy District Attorney Kirsten Snowden as prosecutors. The jury returned a verdict on May 31, finding Cooper guilty of one count of Manslaughter in the Second Degree with a Firearm. Judge Marshall imposed the 75-month prison sentence on June 3, 2024.
In a previous trial, Cooper was acquitted of one count of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree (victim Masico Walker Jr.), one count of assault in the First Degree, and one count of Unlawful Use of a Weapon.
Cooper is currently in custody in Multnomah County and will be transported to the Oregon Department of Corrections to serve his sentence.
