MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. — A former Air Force security forces airman has been sentenced to a decade in prison for the deadly crash that followed her high-speed pursuit of a car carrying her estranged husband and another woman.
Shade Cooper, 28, of East Granby, Connecticut, was convicted by a jury in June of reckless manslaughter in the December 2015 crash in Bordentown Township.
Burlington County prosecutors said Cooper, who was assigned to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst at the time, became enraged when another woman picked up her husband, 26-year-old Nicholas Cooper, after he visited his children at his wife’s apartment on base.
Prosecutors said she followed the car for about 10 miles, striking it at one point, and as the high-speed chase continued, the car carrying her estranged husband failed to negotiate a curve, crossed into an oncoming lane and was hit by a pickup truck, ending up in a wooded area. Cooper and 23-year-old Jocelyn Redding were killed.
"This is a tragic case, made even worse by the fact that it was entirely avoidable," Prosecutor Scott Coffina said. "Actions taken in anger often result in disastrous outcomes, like what happened here."
Authorities say Cooper must serve at least 8½ years of her 10-year sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Her first trial last year ended in a deadlocked jury.
