A trio of men and women are now facing more serious charges in the death of a Maysville man. A Grand Jury indicted Minnie Robertson, Amber Lovell and Matthew Brock today for second degree manslaughter. They had previously been charged with wanton endangerment.
The charges stem from the death of 21 year old Michael Ryan Cooper. A driver spotted Cooper's body on July 27th in a wooded area along Route 8 outside Maysville near the new Ohio River Bridge.
According to police reports, it appears this was a road trip to buy drugs that ended in tragedy. Cooper's family says he was no angel and admits there may be plenty of blame to go around. But, they believe he didn't have to die if some others had simply done the right thing.
Just down river from Maysville along Route 8, a makeshift memorial stands where police found Cooper's body last Friday. They think he'd been here since 6:30 Wednesday. Police reports say Cooper was in Robertson's car with Lovell, Brock and Robertson's baby at the end of a road trip. Maysville Major Lisa O'Hearn says, "It appears as though the four together may have been in the Cincinnati area and something transpired on the way back to the point where they dropped Mr. Cooper off in the area of Route 8."
The police reports are more specific. They claim the group had been to the city to buy heroin. Cooper shot up and apparently overdosed. The reports say Robertson, Lovell and Brock dumped Cooper at roadside while he was still breathing.
"Ryan would give you the shirt off his back. He would do anything you needed him to do for you."
Tammy Thoroughman is Cooper's aunt. The family is overcome with grief, anger and bewilderment. Thoroughman says, "You could have called us. We would have come and taken Ryan's body. We would have done what was necessary. Don't throw him away like trash... Ryan would have called me or his mom. He would have said, 'mom this is what happened or aunt Tammy this is what happened. Help me do what's right.' It would have been done the right way. It wouldn't have been taking them and dumping them some place and hoping nobody found 'em."
"Perhaps, we believe they should have provided medical attention to Mr. Cooper as needed."
The trio also faces charges of tampering with evidence.
According to the police reports, Robertson's one-and-a-half-month old child was also in the car when they dumped Cooper along Route 8.
