Prosecutors say Destino Jean-Louis waited outside the Cheltenham Township store before approaching Latosha Ann Cooper after her late-night shift.
CHELTENHAM TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A 23-year-old former Walmart employee has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of 45-year-old Latosha Ann Cooper outside the Pennsylvania store where she worked, with investigators alleging he waited near the entrance before approaching her in the parking lot.
Destino Jean-Louis faces first-degree murder, third-degree murder and related firearm charges in Cooper’s Oct. 21 death at the Walmart in Cedarbrook Plaza, according to authorities and court records cited by local news organizations. Cooper had finished her shift and was talking with a coworker near her car shortly before 11:30 p.m. when a masked person approached. Police found Cooper next to her Nissan sedan, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy determined that she died from multiple gunshot wounds and ruled the death a homicide.
Investigators said surveillance video showed a masked person standing near a bush with a direct view of the store entrance before Cooper came outside. Prosecutors allege the person waited there before moving toward Cooper after she and a coworker left the building. The coworker told investigators that a masked man approached while the two were talking in the parking lot and opened fire. Authorities said the shooter then ran across Cheltenham Avenue toward Philadelphia.
Detectives identified Jean-Louis during the investigation and learned that he had previously worked at the same Walmart and had been in a romantic relationship with Cooper, authorities said. Records showed that Cooper and Jean-Louis were issued a marriage license in March 2025. Reporting based on the probable cause affidavit said they later married, but their relationship deteriorated. Prosecutors have described immigration issues involving Jean-Louis as part of the circumstances investigators are examining in the case.
According to the affidavit described by CBS Philadelphia, Jean-Louis came to the United States from Haiti in 2023 through a humanitarian program. Investigators said Cooper later withdrew an application that could have supported his effort to remain in the country as her spouse. Former coworkers told detectives that Jean-Louis had contacted Walmart employees to ask whether Cooper was working. Those statements and the prosecution’s theory about the relationship remain allegations and have not been proven in court.
Investigators also relied on cellphone evidence. Authorities said Jean-Louis’ phone records showed multiple trips between the Philadelphia area where he was staying and the Walmart during the weeks before Cooper’s death. Prosecutors said the records also placed his phone near the Walmart parking lot around the time Cooper was killed. Investigators further examined a report that a suspicious person had been seen lingering near the store several days before the shooting.
Members of a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force arrested Jean-Louis on Oct. 23 at a Philadelphia residence. Authorities said investigators searching the home found a plastic bag containing 11 rounds of .22-caliber ammunition. Officials said projectiles recovered during Cooper’s autopsy were also .22 caliber. The publicly reported evidence does not by itself establish that the ammunition recovered from the residence was used in the shooting.
Jean-Louis denied killing Cooper when detectives interviewed him, according to reporting on the probable cause affidavit. He allegedly told investigators he was at the Philadelphia residence at the time of the shooting and denied possessing a gun. Authorities said cellphone evidence conflicted with his account of where he was. Jean-Louis also acknowledged contacting Walmart workers about Cooper’s schedule but provided another explanation for those calls, according to the court records described by news organizations.
Cooper had worked at the Walmart for more than two decades and most recently served in a supervisory role, according to local reporting. Her killing initially prompted a search for the masked shooter before authorities announced the charges against Jean-Louis. The case has since shifted from a homicide investigation focused on identifying a suspect to a criminal prosecution in Montgomery County.
Jean-Louis remained accused of the charges as the case moved through Pennsylvania’s court system. Published reports said no attorney was listed in online court records who could comment on his behalf. The charges are allegations, and Jean-Louis is presumed innocent unless he pleads guilty or is found guilty in court.
Author note: Last updated October 27, 2026.