Woman survives death row but apparently kills self

INDIANAPOLIS — A woman who at age 16 was the youngest death row inmate in Indiana was found dead, apparently by her own hand, two years after was released from prison.

Paula Cooper had pleaded guilty to murder in 1986 but a successful appeal led to her June 2013 release after 27 years in prison.

Cooper, 45, died just after 7:15 a.m. ET Tuesday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. Her death is still under investigation, and the Marion County coroner's office conducted an autopsy Wednesday.

"It's an unusual ending to a tragic case," said Indianapolis lawyer Jack Crawford, who was the Lake County prosecutor when Cooper was charged. "I've been involved in a lot of cases in my life, and nothing compared to this case."

Cooper became infamous in 1985 when at 15 she was charged with murder in the stabbing of 78-year-old Ruth Pelke during a robbery. Law enforcement identified Cooper as the ringleader in the slaying.

She and three friends went to Pelke's Gary home armed with a 12-inch butcher knife.

An investigation showed Pelke allowed the teens into her home after they said they were interested in Bible study lessons. But the scene turned grisly when they knocked Pelke to the ground and Cooper climbed on top of her.

"Paula Cooper got on top of her and kept saying to her, and this is her own admission, 'Where's the money, b---h?' " Crawford told The Indianapolis Star during a 2013 interview. Cooper began slicing Pelke with the butcher knife.

The woman's last words were the Lord's Prayer.

Other teens involved were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on robbery or murder charges: 25, 35 and 60 years. But when Cooper was sentenced, the judge invoked capital punishment.

The decision led to an immediate shift in public outrage. Cooper was among only a handful of women in Indiana to receive the death penalty, and she was the youngest in the state's history. At the time of her sentencing, she was also the youngest death row inmate in the United States.

The 30th anniversary of the murder was two weeks ago. Cooper's sister, Rhonda Labroi of Gary, Ind., issued a statement saying the family is devastated.

"She was so sorry for the crime that she committed, and she worked hard to change her life. While in prison, my sister grew from a teenager into a strong woman, and she was trying to build a future outside of those prison walls she had come to call home for more than 25 years," Labroi said.

"We love and miss Paula, and ask that you please keep her, our family, and Ruth Pelke's family in your prayers, and please grant us privacy as we grieve."

Bill Pelke, a grandson of the slain Bible teacher, said he forgave Cooper, who said she had been abused as a child, and visited her in prison 14 times. They exchanged e-mails almost weekly the last two years of her incarceration.

In one of their last messages, Cooper told Pelke that her time in prison was about up and she was scared. She had spent most of her life incarcerated. She had never written a check or paid a bill.

She had so much she didn't know how to do, she told him.

He offered to help. But the two talked only once after she was released.

Pelke said he was devastated to hear of Cooper's death.

"We had wanted to do things together around restorative justice and the death penalty," he said. She wanted to be an example for other young people who have been abused.

"She wanted to tell them, 'Look, this is how I responded to the hate and anger, and look at all the trouble I got into,' " he said. "She wanted to give them alternatives so they didn't end up like her."

Cooper's pursuit of an appeal made her world renowned. According to the Indiana Historical Society, the Indiana Supreme Court received 2 million signatures in support of her appeal. Pope John Paul II sent an emissary to Crawford's office and wrote an appeal to then-Gov. Robert Orr. The United Nations received a million signatures in support of overturning Cooper's death penalty.

Two years after Cooper's sentencing, the U.S. Supreme Court, which was already considering the issue of imposing death sentences on teens, ruled it was unconstitutional to execute anyone younger than 16 at the time the person committed a crime. Indiana lawmakers later raised the minimum age from 10 to 16 in 1989 and to 18 in 2002.

"A lot of things have changed," Crawford said. "It was a truly unique case."

The Indiana Supreme Court commuted Cooper's death sentence and sent her to prison for 60 years. She served 27 years of that sentence until her 2013 release.

Kevin Relphorde, who served as Cooper's public defender during her trial, said he was stunned. He hadn't spoken to Cooper in years and had lost track of her.

"Paula was a good person," he said. "She was very misunderstood. She went through a lot at the hands of her father, with physical abuse, and I think that led to the situation with Mrs. Pelke."

Her time in prison began with troubles. In 1995, she was sentenced to three years of solitary confinement for assaulting a prison guard.

"I was very bitter and angry, so I was in a lot of trouble. I hated it. But I learned to adapt eventually," she said in a 2004 interview.

Cooper soon began pursuing educational opportunities, first earning her General Educational Development degree, then a vocational degree, and in 2001 a bachelor's degree.

"She couldn't deal with the outside world," said Warren W. Lewis, a retired dean and professor at Martin University who taught Cooper at the Indiana Women's Prison.

"I knew her well, and I loved her," Lewis said Tuesday. "She was practically a child, and she shouldn't have been treated like an adult."

Lewis said he taught Cooper and other female inmates a college-level Introduction to Philosophy class. He has not had any contact with her for several years.

"My goal was to work up to a level of trust to ask, 'Why are you in this prison?' " he said.

When he reached that point with Cooper, Lewis said, the young prisoner told him no one had ever asked her that question.

"I really don't know why I did that" was the best she could offer in regard to her role in the killing.

Like a lot of prisoners, Cooper had difficulty connecting the cause and effect of crime, Lewis said.

Since her release, how she was spending her time was unclear.

"What happened to her once she got out?" Lewis asked.