Student gets 20 years after using dating app to set up robbery

On Tuesday, 18-year-old Ky’Andrea Cook was sentenced to 20 years in state prison for using a dating app to set up a robbery that ultimately led to the shooting of another teen.

According to the prosecution, Cook was still a Mainland High School student in March when she used a dating app to lure 27-year-old Perry Nida to a meeting in which he expected to sell her marijuana, after which they would have sex. Nida brought 17-year-old Immanuel Pursel with him, and Pursel was the one who wound up shot by Cook’s boyfriend, who was waiting to rob them.

Circuit Judge Matthew Foxman sentenced her to 20 years for on a carjacking charge, 15 years for attempted carjacking with a deadly weapon and 15 years for a battery felony, with the sentences running concurrently. A conspiracy charge, which carried a maximum penalty of life in prison, was dropped as part of a plea agreement.

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When the charges were read, Cook’s mother dropped to the floor, howling and wailing in grief so much so that Foxman had to repeat the sentences for the clerk to record them.

Foxman acknowledged that Cook was not the one to pull the trigger and that the victim luckily survived but noted that she was still responsible for her actions.

“This was intentional. It was an orchestrated ambush. And you are a main part of that,” Foxman said. “For that I’m going to adjudicate you guilty for all three charges and sentence you to 20 years in state prison.”