The long awaited autopsy reports to ascertain the deaths of Miss Princess Cooper was released yesterday, Monday, April 18, 2022 by the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Justice after a series of tests were conducted by two leading Liberian pathologists, Dr. Benedict B. Kole and Dr. Zoebon B. Kparteh and attributed the death to natural causes but family and some other individuals and groups have rejected the report, calling for another test that will be done by a different pathologist of the choice of the family.
Giving the report yesterday first from the scientific perspective the pathologists said the occurred as a result of a Hemorrhagic shock, Massive Hemorrhagic from ruptured rasmussen aneurysm and erosion of bronchial vessels and Progressive secondary pulmonary tuberculosis and term the sad occurrence to natural death mainly from Tuberculosis or TB.
The Ministry of Justice had ordered the autopsy in the wake of the controversy that sparked up after the lifeless body of Ms. Cooper was found outside at about 1320 hrs on the floor in a pool of blood in the fence of a building hosting the Fawaz Building Material Store located at the ELWA Junction, Paynesville. She was rushed to the emergency room of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
According to Dr. Kolee, three days prior to the death of Miss Cooper, she was presented to the New Community Clinic in St. Paul Bridge complaining of fever, non-productive cough and chest pain, adding that physical examination shows crepitating and wheezing over the lung and laboratory work up shows elevated white blood cell count.
He said that the autopsy finding disclosed that Mis. Cooper’s stomach was markedly distended and contained blood of (2 L, 410g) while the mucosa and walls of the stomach have no gross lesion and the small intestine, appendix, caecum, colon, and anus have no lesion.
The autopsy was witnessed by a sizable number of individuals and representatives of institutions including the media, the Liberia Council of Churches, the Independent National Human Rights Commission, the Liberia National Police, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, some medical students, etc. The report was received by Cllr. Nyanti Tuan on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.
The Minister of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism, Ledgerhood Julius Rennie on behalf of the government expressed sympathy to the family and called on Liberians to believe in their institutions and the work they do. He said the results from the reports should be accepted as they are scientific processes, to help the family bring the case to a closure.
Meanwhile, the family has rejected the report and has opted for another autopsy to be performed by different pathologists of the choice of the family.
Senator Nyonblee Kangar-Lawrence of Grand Bassa County took to her social media to express disappointment in the report while consoling the family for the loss and pledging her support to the family in their quest for another autopsy.
“Today is definitely a very tough day for the family of Prince Cooper, and we empathize with them. As much as we appreciate the decision to investigate her mysterious death, we harbor doubts over the autopsy report released and support the demand of the family for the conduct of another autopsy preferably by another pathologist selected by the family. We will visit the family and offer our support in every way possible”, she said,
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