Bogalusa man indicted in teen’s drug-related death

Published 4:16 pm Wednesday, May 3, 2017

A St. Tammany Parish grand jury indicted Jami D. Cooper, 33, of Bogalusa, with second-degree murder Tuesday, in the death of a teenager found unresponsive in a Covington ditch after smoking synthetic marijuana.

According to information from the office of District Attorney Warren Montgomery, Cooper is accused of distributing the drug through a middleman to the 17-year-old, who died after using it on March 13, 2016. Cooper has been arrested and is being held in lieu of a $500,000 bond.

Also on Tuesday, Jarbari Pea, 23, of Covington, who was indicted last year on a second-degree murder charge in the same case, pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and distribution of synthetic cannabinoids (Schedule I) for his role as the middleman.

District Judge Scott Gardner sentenced Pea to five years in prison on the negligent homicide charge and 10 years with five of them suspended on the distribution charge. The sentences are to be served concurrently.