ALBANY, GA – The courtroom fell quiet as Melassia Thornton addressed Cooper directly, asking for the one piece of information that has eluded her for years: where her daughter’s body is. Thornton described the anguish of searching for Toomer since her disappearance in August 2022 and the ongoing pain of not being able to lay her to rest.
“You have an opportunity to give me that closure by telling me where my baby’s body is,” Thornton begged. “If you had any heart left in you, before I leave here today, please give me that closure. Please tell me where my baby is. Please tell me where my baby is, so I can go on with my life and at least have a place to go.”
Thornton told the court the absence of her daughter’s body has prolonged her grief. “Closure is not just a word for me,” she said. “Closure is where you can finally go, where you can finally mourn your daughter without uncertainty, where you can finally have answers. Without the location of her body, my grief has no resting place. Every day is longer than it should be. Every day I have to live with unanswered questions that should have been resolved long ago.”
Search for answers continues
Thornton said she spent months searching for her daughter in remote and unfamiliar places, driven by a mother’s determination. “I was in places I had no business going. I was in wooded areas, walking in water,” she said. “I was going to places I’ve not even thought about going before. Day in, day out, I was out looking for my baby, ’cause that is what a mama’s supposed to do.”
She is now raising Toomer’s young son, who was an infant at the time of the killing, and told the court the child deserves to know what happened to his mother.
Cooper did not respond to Thornton’s statements. He remained silent throughout the sentencing.
Judge imposes life without parole
Dougherty County Superior Court Judge Denise Marshall addressed Cooper before issuing the sentence, noting his lack of response to the victim’s family. “I’ve never sentenced anybody to life without the possibility of parole. But I am going to do it today,” she said.
A jury convicted Cooper in less than an hour of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and concealing the death of another. Prosecutors argued Cooper intentionally killed Toomer and disposed of her body to avoid detection.
“Ryan Cooper is absolutely, 100% guilty of all the charges that have been brought before you,” prosecutor Gregory W. Edwards told jurors during closing arguments. “There should be no doubt in your mind that Ryan Cooper is guilty.”
Edwards said Cooper acted with intent. “He wasn’t playing around,” the prosecutor said. “He meant business.” He also told jurors Cooper could have disposed of Toomer’s body anywhere in Georgia, effectively erasing her existence.
Defense challenges evidence
Defense attorney Benjamin Davis argued the state’s case relied heavily on questionable expert testimony and circumstantial evidence. “What is this case really about?” Davis asked. “This case is about jumping to a conclusion, [and] not doing all that you need to do to investigate a crime.”
Davis pointed to the absence of a body and delays in the case timeline. “They haven’t been able to find her,” he said. “They claimed that she died, I get that. But it took them an enormous amount of time to reach that decision and ultimately to get these experts. And they still haven’t figured it out. Their case makes absolutely no sense.”
Toomer was last seen in Albany on Aug. 13, 2022, and reported missing 11 days later. Authorities believe she was killed around Aug. 15 or 16. Prosecutors said Cooper was the last person seen with her and used text messages and cellphone GPS data to build their case. Cooper told investigators he dropped her off at a gas station, a claim authorities disputed.
Cooper was arrested May 31, 2023, and later indicted by a grand jury in March 2026. Despite the conviction and sentence, the location of Toomer’s remains remains unknown.
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