Scott Cooper Arrested and Charged With Second-Degree Murder in the Shooting of High School Student
On Tuesday, the big story was Scott Cooper Arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Garrett Gautreaux. Gautreaux, a 17-year-old junior at Notre Dame High, was found dead in a pick-up truck in a Rayne parking lot. Cooper is being held in the Acadia Parish jail on a $2 million bond. This is not the first time that Cooper has been accused of a fatal shooting in a parking lot. Court records show that he was also charged in another case, but the outcome of that case is unclear.
A man named Earl Zenon was shot and killed at a Lafayette drug store parking lot back in December 1997. His car was then set on fire with him inside of it, Burning him alive until he eventually died. The case went unsolved for a while until Vince Moore eventually confessed and pleaded guilty to manslaughter and armed robbery. He was sentenced to 40 years for the killing of Earl Zenon.
On the night of Zenon’s murder, Moore was seen driving his car up to Zenon’s and shooting him. Scott Cooper was standing at the passenger side of Zenon’s car when the shooting happened and then got into the back seat of Moore’s car. They drove away together and Zenon’s car was found later that night in Evangeline Parish, burned, with his body inside.
It was clear from Zenon’s autopsy that he was still alive when the fire started. This, coupled with evidence that he was shot in the back of the head, suggests that he was most likely shot by Cooper while he was standing outside of the passenger window.
The men drove Zenon’s car to a house where they picked up a blanket, then drove out to Point Blue where Moore set the car – with Zenon in it, still alive – on fire. They drove back to Lafayette where they smoked the dead man’s weed, according to Cooper’s statement. This is what he told the police happened:
Cooper stated that Moore shot Zenon because he wanted the “big bag of weed” that Zenon had. He said he didn’t know Moore was going to shoot Zenon. He also gave details as to what happened afterward, including the fire.
The pot police found was half a pound of marijuana. Cooper appealed the charge as it was brought against him — as principal to first-degree violence — which was later changed to principal to second-degree murder. He served seven years, four months, and fifteen days at Angola, Department of Corrections records show.
During his hearing, Cooper’s appeal focused on how the prosecution made claims during their case against him. One claim they made is that “Moore said Cooper shot Phillips.” In court, however, Moore did not make that statement during his testimony — thus proving it could not have been evidence used in the trial.
In 2008, Cooper’s conviction was thrown out by a state district judge based on statements made by the prosecutor. However, years passed without any new trial date being set, due to delays caused by lawsuits filed over the way cases were allotted in the 15th Judicial District.
In 2012, a court sentenced Cooper to obstruction of justice, noting that he was married, father of five children, employed with Frank’s Casing Crew, and attended church regularly. Interestingly, Cooper was only 17 years old at the time this crime was committed.
After being sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison, with credit for time served, Cooper had 4 more days in the parish jail. Focussing “like a laser” on himself and his family after leaving prison, rather than true rehabilitation which involves remorse, was noted by the judge who said this is not evidence of rehabilitation.
Scott Cooper was released from probation in April 2015, according to the Department of Corrections.