Kate Schoenke can count on one hand how many holidays, major milestones or special occasions have passed without both her children at home.
Now, she and her 16-year-old daughter are trying to process what an endless string of Christmases and birthdays will be like without her 19-year-old son, Cooper. He was a bystander killed in Little Five Points in April in a high-speed police pursuit by the Georgia State Patrol.
“It is so depressingly different,” she said of the holiday season.
Her family now keeps count of milestones and holidays by court dates and legal deadlines.
Around Mother’s Day, Schoenke said she attended the bond hearing for Faduma Mohamed, the driver charged with fleeing a Georgia state trooper and ultimately crashing into Cooper Schoenke’s Honda Accord at a busy intersection.
Credit: Courtesy of Kate Schoenke
Credit: Courtesy of Kate Schoenke
On what would’ve been her son’s 20th birthday in September, Schoenke filed an ante litem legal notice blaming the trooper and the state patrol for the fatal crash and notifying the state that she may file a lawsuit. The deadline for the Georgia Department of Public Safety and GSP to acknowledge and respond falls between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
The Department of Public Safety declined the AJC’s request for a comment, noting it does not comment on intended or pending litigation.
Schoenke said she doesn’t absolve the fleeing driver of her responsibility that night, but thinks the state patrol should know better. Her legal notice says the GSP trooper involved in the chase continued the pursuit “despite the obvious danger to nearby motorists and pedestrians.”
“It is a miracle that other innocent victims were not maimed or killed during the ill-advised chase,” the notice said.
The April 14 pursuit began on I-20 East when GSP Trooper Jabri Horne tried to pull over a Chevrolet Equinox that was speeding and weaving out of lanes of traffic, according to an incident report. The chase exited the interstate onto Moreland Avenue, and the Equinox smashed into the teen’s vehicle at the intersection with McLendon Avenue in Little Five Points.
Schoenke, a 2023 Drew Charter School graduate, was known by family and friends for his dry sense of humor and bright personality. He worked part-time at the Fox Theatre. Kate Schoenke said her son was active and well-known in the Little Five Points community, and frequently visited the record stores and eclectic shops in the district.
“That’s where we always go,” she said.
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Schoenke told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she got a crash detection notification on her iPhone the night of the crash, alerting her of a collision involving her son.
“And I was like, ‘OK, he’s made it three years without an accident, chances are we have a fender-bender’” she said. “And then he’s not answering my call.”
She and a family friend drove toward the crash site, where they saw a road closure, police lights and emergency vehicles.
“I just parked, and we ran,” she said. “I thought, ‘That’s not normal. That’s not good.’”
At the center of the chaotic scene, she saw the broken shell of her son’s car with a blanket draped over it. She said she knew immediately that he had been killed.
The incident report said the fleeing driver was going around 100 mph on I-20 as the trooper worked to catch up. By the time the pursuit spilled onto Moreland, the speeds were around 80 mph in a 30-mph zone, the incident report said.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
The fatal pursuit came after an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found the agency is one of the most aggressive in the country for police pursuits. Its pursuit tactics and loose chase policy put the public at risk, contributing to 1,900 people injured and 66 deaths over a recent five-year period.
The agency was involved in more than 6,700 pursuits over that period ending in 2023, according to the AJC’s analysis. About 3,400 of those chases ended in crashes, with bystanders or passengers often the ones who suffered injuries or death.
The investigation — which was cited in Schoenke’s ante litem notice — found that the GSP has one of the most permissive pursuit policies in the country and leaves many decisions up to individual troopers. The state has given no indication that it will change its policy.
Schoenke said she believes a death was the only foreseeable outcome of the high-speed pursuit that harmed her family; if her son had not been killed in the crash, another bystander or the fleeing driver would have been.
She’s calling on Gov. Brian Kemp and the state to take action to curb the dangerous pursuits.
“It’s debilitating,” she said. “Innocent people standing around have had their lives changed because of these actions, and I think it deserves serious, serious review.”
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Pushing for change, she added, is the impetus behind putting the state on notice that she may sue. Schoenke said that no amount of money would be worth her child’s life, but she is hoping that it could encourage a policy reevaluation.
“A lot of it is in hopes of letting them know that we’re serious about policy change. We are serious about safety and community and review and chain of command and all of those things,” she said. “A lot of times, the only way that works is with the pocketbook.”
Her son’s absence this time of year has left a huge hole in the family. Kate Schoenke said she and her daughter are muddling through as best they know how: by volunteering, donating Christmas presents to charity and trying to celebrate what they are able to.
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Schoenke’s house is decorated with holiday symbols that help her remember her son. One of Cooper’s favorite ornaments — a hand-carved cheetah — sparkles on the tree. It represents his favorite animal to ride on the carousel when he was a young child.
“I still have two stockings up,” she said. “I have put little things in there, put little trinkets that make me think of him.”
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