Jan. 15--A Harvey woman faces life in prison without parole after a Cook County jury on Thursday convicted her on first-degree murder charges for the 2011 deaths of two youth football coaches.
Prosecutors said Carri Cook, 28, helped orchestrate the armed robbery of Frank Brassel, 50, and Echford Cooper, 46, who were killed in their Harvey home by two accomplices of Cook's.
Jurors at the Markham courthouse found Cook guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of home invasion and one count of attempted armed robbery. Prosecutors argued she was guilty of murder under what's commonly referred to as the law of accountability, meaning she was legally responsible for the murders even if she didn't actually commit them.
Brassel, a longtime coach with the Harvey Colts youth football team, and Cooper, his assistant, were shot to death on April 20, 2011, in the home they shared in the 15100 block of South Myrtle Avenue, authorities said.
Another man, Glen Lewis of Blue Island, 35, also is charged with the murder of the two men. Lewis is scheduled to appear in Markham court on Feb. 17. Prosecutors said Lewis was one of the gunmen who tried to rob Brassel. The other accomplice was not charged in connection with the coaches' deaths, but is accused in another murder, according to court records.
Cook met Brassel days before the murders when he showed her a sizable "wad" of cash, prosecutors said. That meeting sparked a series of events where Cook and others conspired to find a way to rob the coaches, authorities said. Investigators found $8,000 on Brassel's body after the botched robbery that led to his death.
Helping arrange the armed robbery made it "as though it was her finger around the trigger," said Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Emily Stevens about Cook during closing arguments on Thursday. "That is the law."
Cook's attorney argued she had no idea the people who went with her to Brassel and Cooper's home wanted to rob them or would end up killing the two men. Cook, a self-employed house painter, was there for legitimate reasons and had discussed a possible painting contract with Brassel before going to his home, said attorney John Paul Carroll.
"Her finger wasn't on the trigger," Carroll said.
Cooper, who needed the use of a wheelchair, lived with his close friend so that Brassel could care for him. Prosecutors said Cooper was executed in his chair after Brassel, who had managed to wrestle away a gun and shoot one of the assailants, was shot in the head.
Cook is due back in Markham court for sentencing on Feb. 11.
Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter.
