A Haitian illegal immigrant is accused of murdering his estranged wife as she left work in Pennsylvania after he grew increasingly angry over his immigration status, police said.
The suspect, Destino Jean Louis, 23, was taken into custody Friday, Oct. 23 in North Philadelphia by U.S. Marshals for overstaying his visa and charged with murder later that night, federal authorities said.
According to prosecutors, Louis allegedly shot his wife, 45-year-old Latosha Ann Cooper, in an ambush-style murder. He was waiting for her at the Walmart parking lot where she worked in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, police said.
HAITIAN NATIONAL WHO OVERSTAYED VISA CHARGED WITH MURDER OF 45-YEAR-OLD WALMART EMPLOYEE IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY
A 23-year-old Haitian national who allegedly overstayed his visa has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of a 45-year-old Walmart employee who… pic.twitter.com/vGuQFFdYrF
— PhillyCrimeUpdate (@PhillyCrimeUpd) October 26, 2026
The couple’s alleged sham marriage failed to give him legal status and the two were estranged, authorities said.
The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office subsequently charged Jean-Louis with murder and other offenses while he was in federal custody, authorities said.
Police said Louis grew increasingly angry after his immigration issues worsened and believe that was the motive for the shooting.
He had recently been terminated from Walmart, where they both worked, over immigration issues. They were married in March 2025.
Cooper was a manager at the store and had just left her shift when she was shot multiple times by a man who approached her in the parking lot of Walmart.
Cooper had worked at the store for more than 20 years and was a mother and grandmother who had celebrated her birthday two days before the shooting, family members told FOX29 Philadelphia.
The fatal shooting occurred around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21. According to investigators, a masked Jean-Louis was waiting near a bush and ran toward Cooper as she exited the building with another employee and fatally shot her.
Officers with the Cheltenham Township Police Department responded to the Walmart store and found Cooper with gunshot wounds. She was declared dead at the scene.
After an investigation, police arrested Jean-Louis, who had worked at Walmart with Cooper.
The couple began dating around April 2024, according to court filings. Jean-Louis and Cooper were married in March of last year to allow Jean-Louis to remain in the United States.
Friends and coworkers told detectives that the main goal of the marriage was to help Jean Louis obtain legal status, CBS News Philadelphia reported.
Immigration officials conducted an interview with the couple and declined to approve the petition after determining the marriage was not legitimate for immigration purposes, FOX29 reported.
Following that determination, in July 2026, Cooper withdrew an application to allow him to remain in the U.S. as her spouse.
Jean-Louis entered the United States from Haiti under a humanitarian program, which the Trump administration terminated last year.
In recent months, Jean-Louis grew increasingly angry and faced mounting personal problems after Cooper cut ties with him.
Detectives interviewed coworkers at Walmart who told investigators that Jean-Louis admitted to physically assaulting Cooper for allegedly disrespecting him. He repeatedly contacted store staff to obtain her work schedule as recently as Sept. 30, according to court documents.
Jean-Louis’s mobile phone records showed multiple trips between his residence in Philadelphia and the Walmart location in the weeks leading up to the incident, as well as at the time of the fatal shooting, prosecutors alleged.
U.S. Marshals arrested Jean-Louis Friday at a relative’s home. Detectives also recovered a firearm and a sandwich bag containing .22 caliber ammunition from the home.
