What you did to my mom was unreal, murder victim's daughter tells Brooks at sentencing

YOUNGSTOWN

The family of slain real-estate agent Vivian Martin said Thursday it hopes it can begin to heal after the second and last man who pleaded guilty to killing her in 2010 was sentenced to 29 years in prison.

Donna James, one of Martin’s daughters, said although the family is not 100 percent satisfied with the outcome of the case, it is glad it’s over. Now the family can now try to move on.

“Did we all get the justice we wanted? No,” James said after 25-year-old Grant Cooper was sentenced in

Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for the death of the 67-year-old. “But now we can get some closure. Now we can get some healing.”

“Thank Jesus it’s over,” added another daughter of Martin’s, Davida Brown.

Cooper was sentenced on charges of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated arson, aggravated robbery and kidnapping. Police said Cooper and 29-year-old Robert Brooks lured Martin to a home on Nelson Avenue she was trying to sell on Sept. 20, 2010, robbed and strangled her and set the house on fire.

Brooks was sentenced to life in prison with no parole Wednesday by visiting Judge Lee Sinclair. Cooper, who strangled Martin, pleaded guilty to his charges July 31 and agreed to testify against Brooks if needed. Brooks pleaded guilty Sept. 19 to Martin’s death and the robbery of a real-estate agent in Boardman five days before Martin was killed. In exchange for his pleas, prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty against him.

Earlier, Brown addressed Cooper, saying she understood why prosecutors had to make a deal with him, but that did not erase what he did to her mother.

“It was unreal what you did to my mom. It was unreal,” Brown said.

Brown said she feels cheated a bit because he never had to testify.

Read more about the conclusion of the case in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.