Pineville woman facing murder trial back in jail

A woman facing a Sept. 14 trial on second-degree murder is back in jail on cruelty to a juvenile and domestic abuse battery.

Stormy Nicole Cofer, 23, was booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center on Thursday. She was charged with two counts of second-degree cruelty to a juvenile and two counts of domestic abuse battery.

As of Friday afternoon, no bond was listed for Cofer, who lives on Ruth Street in Pineville.

Cofer has been awaiting trial in the October 2013 shooting death of 18-year-old Keiunna Collins. She was indicted by a Rapides Parish grand jury in December 2013.

She also filed a civil lawsuit against the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office in March, alleging that she was sexually assaulted in March 2014 by two deputies while in jail on the murder charge. That lawsuit remains active.

Former deputies John William Benjamin and Donald Weston were charged with malfeasance in office with sex offense. Weston pleaded guilty in April 2015, while Benjamin pleaded guilty in May 2015. Both received three years probation.

Alexandria police began searching for Cofer in the Collins shooting after a patrol officer was flagged down near the shooting scene on Oct. 21, 2013. A day later, the department issued a public appeal to help find Cofer, whom they had named as a suspect.

Within a day, Alexandria detectives and members of the U.S. Marshal's Fugitive Task Force raided a Beatrice Street home where Cofer was hiding. She was arrested, along with four others who all were arrested and were charged with being accessories after the fact to second-degree murder.

In Cofer's current case, the sheriff's office received a complaint about possible abuse of juveniles on Wednesday. The complaint alleged that Cofer was responsible, reads the release.

Detectives began an investigation and soon got warrants for her arrest. An investigation is continuing, and more charges are possible, it states.