Haitian man, 23, charged with murder of Walmart employee near Philadelphia

She was shot dead around 11:30 p.m. on October 21 in the store's parking lot, moments after finishing her shift.

According to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, a masked man waited by a bush with a view of the store entrance. He walked up to Latosha Cooper as she talked with a co-worker near her car and fired. She died at the scene. A mother and grandmother, she had worked at that Walmart for 22 years.

According to court documents cited by local media, Destino Jean-Louis arrived from Haiti in November 2023 under a humanitarian program that the Trump administration ended in 2025. He met Latosha Cooper at the Walmart, where he worked until he was let go over problems with his immigration status. The couple obtained a marriage license on March 31, 2025.

Investigators say the marriage was mainly meant to let him stay in the United States. Immigration officials turned down the petition after an interview, and Latosha Cooper withdrew her sponsorship in July. She then cut off contact. A co-worker told police that Destino Jean-Louis said he had hit her and that he was trying to find out her work schedule.

His phone records place him near the store on several nights before October 21 and at the time of the killing, prosecutors say. U.S. Marshals arrested him on Friday, October 23, at a home in Philadelphia's West Oak Lane neighborhood, first on an immigration violation so that he could not leave the country. Officers found .22-caliber ammunition there, the same caliber as the bullets recovered at the autopsy.

He is charged with first- and third-degree murder and firearms offenses. Questioned by detectives, he admitted calling Walmart employees to ask whether Latosha Cooper was working, saying she owed him money. He denies owning a gun and says he was at a relative's home at the time. He is awaiting a preliminary hearing and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.