Bensalem teen faces 15 to 40 years in prison for killing a 12-year-old girl and showing her corpse on Instagram

A Bensalem teen who shot and killed a 12-year-old girl, then displayed her corpse in an Instagram video call as she sought help in hiding her crime will spend 15 to 40 years in prison after admitting her guilt Thursday.

Ash Cooper, 18, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and related crimes in the shooting death of Morgan Connors in the trailer Cooper shared with her father in the Top of the Ridge Trailer Park in November 2022.

In accepting the guilty plea, Bucks County Court Judge Jeffrey L. Finley decried Cooper’s actions and lamented Morgan’s death.

“It’s a horrible tragedy,” he said. “A tragedy no family should ever have to undergo.”

Connors’ grandfather and adoptive father, Allen Gold, called Morgan a “sweet, beautiful” person and said that every year on her birthday, he and his family remembered the aspiring writer they lost.

“A parent should never have to bury a child,” Gold said in a statement read in court by Chief Deputy District Attorney Kristin McElroy. “The human heart was not designed for such heartbreak.”

Shortly after 4 p.m. Nov. 25, 2022, Bensalem Police received a 911 call from a woman who said her daughter got an Instagram video call from Cooper in which she said she had just killed someone, authorities said. Cooper flipped the video image on the call, showing the girl’s legs and feet covered in blood, authorities said.

The woman who called police said Cooper had told her daughter she just killed someone and needed help disposing of the body, authorities said.

When officers arrived at the scene, Cooper, who was 16 at the time, was seen running away toward a nearby wooded area. Police found the 12-year-old inside the cramped bathroom of Cooper’s trailer, lying facedown with a gunshot wound to the back.

Investigators said it was clear someone had attempted to clean up the scene of the crime. Police found bottles of household cleaners, bleach and a pile of blood-soaked towels sitting next to the victim’s body.

Based on where the bullet holes were found in the trailer, investigators determined the shot that killed the girl was fired from inside the trailer.

Cooper was taken into custody at the scene and told police “it was an accident” and she was afraid of going to jail for the rest of her life, according to court testimony.

Cooper’s attorney, Paul Lang, said she had a “difficult upbringing” in the years leading up to the crime. He said he was hopeful that the guilty plea and prison sentence would bring rehabilitation and redemption.

He said Cooper deeply regretted her actions. “There is nothing but significant remorse and sorrow,” said Lang. As the lawyer spoke on her behalf, Cooper wiped away tears.

Outside the courtroom, the lawyer said he was pleased that Cooper, in admitting guilt, had avoided a possible death penalty.

“This is a big step in Ash accepting responsibility and moving forward as a citizen of this country and a human on this planet,” he said.

McElroy, the prosecutor, said investigators never determined a motive for the killing of Morgan. McElroy and Lang agreed Cooper and Morgan were friends.

Lang said he, too, was at loss to understand what led Cooper to kill the girl.