Investigators have detained a Virginia man who is accused of murdering a mother, placing her body inside a suitcase, and then throwing it in a trash truck that was headed toward a landfill.
The 28-year-old Brendon Devon White is accused of killing Taty’ana Zakiyyah Cooks, 30, at her home. Saquan Ir-Rahman, the victim’s father, criticized the defendant in an interview with the local NBC affiliate WRC following a court hearing on Wednesday.
He told the network, “What you did to her, you went overboard with her,” and mentioned that back in March, when looking for her, he had driven by the dumpster she was in. “I had walked around the parking lot, you know, crying and stuff, but she was in that dumpster I walked past twice.”
Family members anxious that Cooks hadn’t picked up her toddler from daycare reported the incident to the authorities, which led to the case’s discovery.
According to a news release from the police, officers were called to her residence in the 12200 block of Stevenson Court in Woodbridge on March 21 at 8:49 p.m. to conduct an investigation. About 20 miles to the southwest of Washington, D.C. is Woodbridge.
Police discovered Cooks’ possessions inside the house, raising suspicions, but her automobile was gone.
The next day, while conducting their investigation, detectives pulled over a trash truck and discovered her dead inside, according to the authorities. Prince William Times said Cooks’ body was discovered in a suitcase, citing charge paperwork.
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After discovering that White had been operating Cooks’ vehicle in Newport News, Virginia, which is located almost 150 miles southeast of her residence, authorities detained him.
Despite their breakup, Cooks’ aunt Cassandra Cooks informed the Times that White continued to reside with her.
“They weren’t together,” she stated. “She was trying to help him out, but he knew he had to find someplace else to live. She was trying to help somebody, and this is what happened.”
