ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WESH) – The family of a 19-year-old Florida man is heartbroken after he was allegedly stabbed to death by his estranged girlfriend.
Zoe Cooper, 18, was arrested last Friday on a charge of second-degree murder in relation to the death of her estranged boyfriend, 19-year-old Tadarius Massey.
In August, an argument broke out between Cooper and Massey at her home in west Orange County, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators say Cooper was upset that Massey would not give her access to his phone.
The arrest report says the incident became physical, and Massey was stabbed multiple times.
Detectives say Cooper drove Massey to a hospital in Ocoee but didn’t get out of the car. The victim’s friends took him inside the hospital while Cooper drove back home.
The next day, the arrest report shows Cooper posted a picture of the two of them on social media, saying, “If I could take it back or trade place in a heartbeat, I would. I love you always. I’m truly sorry for what I did. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.”
Massey was pronounced dead at the hospital. An autopsy report revealed a stab wound struck him in the heart, and another stab near the left shoulder struck the bone. He also had two old, healed stab wounds on or near his left shoulder.
The victim’s manager at Subway told detectives that Massey would come into work looking beaten up, and he told her about incidents where Cooper allegedly attacked him. She also said Cooper would come into Subway and watch Massey work without speaking to him.
Investigators say there was another incident at Ocoee High School in December 2023 where Cooper attacked Massey for not allowing her to look in his phone.
Detectives found messages on both cell phones in which Cooper allegedly threatened to kill Massey by stabbing him and said she regretted not killing him previously.
The arrest reports says that in messages from March, Cooper told Massey, “And Ima spit in yo grave. I wish you would have died that day. Seriously, I hope you die a very painful death.”
Massey’s family is heartbroken. His mother says the 19-year-old was her only child, and the family is still grieving and processing the tragedy.
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