WARNING DISTRESSING CONTENT: Ryan Cooper, 28, has been convicted of murdering girlfriend Lacambria Deonshay Toomer and hiding her body so it has never been found
A man who murdered his girlfriend and hid her remains so well they still have not been found has been convicted after a jury took less than an hour to return a guilty verdict.
Ryan Cooper, 28, was convicted on Tuesday (July 14), after jurors in Dougherty County, Albany, Georgia, USA, deliberated for just 24 minutes.
Cooper was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and concealing the death of another in the killing of 23-year-old Lacambria Deonshay Toomer, the mother of his child.
Toomer was last seen alive in Albany on August 13, 2022 and was reported missing by her family 11 days later on August 24.
Investigators said she was killed between August 15 and 16, but her body has never been recovered. Prosecutors said Cooper shot her, then made her disappear.
“Ryan Cooper is absolutely, 100% guilty of all the charges that have been brought before you,” District Attorney Gregory W. Edwards told the jury during closing arguments. “There should be no doubt in your mind that Ryan Cooper is guilty.”
Edwards said Cooper killed Toomer to send a message. “He wasn’t playing around,” the prosecutor said.
“He meant business.” In court, the state built a so called no body murder case, leaning on digital forensics and circumstantial evidence to tear apart Cooper’s story.
When questioned by Albany Police, Cooper claimed he argued with Toomer then dropped her off unharmed at a Love’s truck stop in Cordele so he would not be late for a work delivery in Savannah. He said she later hung up on him and he never saw her again.
But GPS from his work truck and phone tracking placed him nowhere near Cordele. Records also showed Toomer’s phone went silent immediately after August 15 and prosecutors said Cooper made no attempts to contact her after she supposedly vanished.
Investigators also said he used her EBT card after she disappeared. Forensic teams dismantled parts of Cooper’s Audi convertible and presented components that tested positive for preliminary traces of blood.
Defence lawyer Benjamin Davis insisted the state’s timeline was a “fictional like story” and attacked the credibility of the prosecution’s experts. “What is this case really about?” Davis asked.
“This case is about jumping to a conclusion, [and] not doing all that you need to do to investigate a crime.” Davis further said: “They haven’t been able to find her.
“They claimed that she died, I get that. But it took them an enormous amount of time to reach that decision and ultimately to get these experts. And they still haven’t figured it out.
“Their case makes absolutely no sense.” Cooper was arrested on May 31, 2023 and indicted in March 2026.
He is being held in the Dougherty County Jail ahead of sentencing, as investigators continue searching for Toomer’s remains.
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