According to information released by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO), a 20-year-old from St. Petersburg Florida has been arrested following an attempted murder and residential burglary with battery.
Detectives state that on January 2, 2025 at approximately 3:39 am, deputies assigned to the Patrol Operations Bureau responded to a residence located in unincorporated St. Petersburg for a burglarly in progress. Once on scene, deputies located Sean-Michael Cooper standing outside the residence covered in blood.
Inside the residence, deputies found the victim, a 22-year-old female, suffering from significant injuries. The victim was lucid enough to tell responding officers that the suspect, Cooper, was the one that had executed the attack.
Investigations into the crime uncovered a staged home invasion turned murder plot. The victim told investigators that she had found Cooper inside waiting for her in the dark when she returned to her residence after a long day at work. Cooper then attacked the young woman by striking her in the head with a large glass pipe, sprayed her with pepper spray, then continued striking her multiple times with a metal frying pan.