Police say the argument between a young couple started with the woman being accused of pulling out the ol’, “Let me see your phone,” card. However, when the young man denied her request... she did something that allegedly got her in handcuffs.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said 18-year-old Zoe Cooper and 19-year-old Tadarius Massey were in an argument at Cooper’s home on the westside of the county just around Thanksgiving. Investigators say Cooper was upset after being denied access to Massey’s phone.
However, instead of accepting defeat, police say their argument then escalated to a physical altercation. Police say in the end, Massey was stabbed multiple times.
Cooper was reported to have driven Massey to a hospital in Ocoee, per Cleveland 19 News. However, she didn’t exit the car. Instead, the victim’s friend took him inside while Cooper went back home, the report says.
“If I could take it back or trade place in a heartbeat, I would. I love you always. I’m truly sorry for what I did. It wasn’t supposed to be this way,” Cooper wrote in a social media post the following day, per police.
However, Massey never recovered from his injuries to accept the apology. Police say he died after suffering a stab wound that struck his heart. He also had two healed stab wounds on his shoulder, the report says. After Massey died, Cooper was arrested as a suspect in his death.
Would you believe this wasn’t the first time the two got into it over a phone? Allegedly, Cooper attacked Massey at Ocoee High School last December for not being able to look in his phone, the report says. Additionally, investigators found death threats from Cooper to Massey in their messages prior to the incident.
Cooper was charged with second-degree murder in connection to Massey’s death. As for Massey’s family, WESH reports they are grieving their only child and left heartbroken by the tragic end to what some may consider a toxic relationship.