Mother charged in son’s shooting told police he was unstable

Hours after Las Vegas police say Linda Cooney shot her eldest son over an argument about an ex-girlfriend, she told officers she was a victim and suggested her son was trying to kill himself.

During the continuing preliminary hearing Wednesday in Linda Cooney's attempted murder case before Las Vegas Justice of the Peace William Jansen, prosecutors played a recording of a conversation she had with two different officers about two hours after Kevin Cooney was shot.

Linda Cooney, hysterical and distraught, described her son as suffering from a mental illness and said he drank excessively, couldn't hold down a job, dated hookers, strippers and drug addicts and had pointed a handgun at her and his brother, Las Vegas police officer Chris Cooney.

Linda Cooney told officer Laurie Bisch that she didn't report the incidents because Kevin Cooney threatened her and she feared it would hurt Chris Cooney's career with the Metropolitan Police Department.

"He told me he'd kill me if I called the police again," she said.

Linda Cooney also suggested the 8:30 a.m. shooting on June 28, 2011, was a suicide attempt by Kevin Cooney, though she didn't recall hearing a gunshot.

Linda Cooney told Bisch that before the shooting, she had encouraged Kevin Cooney to move in with Karina Taylor, the ex-girlfriend at the heart of the argument with her son.

"If this is what you want, just go," she told her son, according to the recording.

After the shooting, Linda Cooney asked specifically to speak with Bisch. Linda Cooney said she had volunteered for Bisch in her bid to be Clark County sheriff. Bisch testified Linda Cooney had never volunteered for her campaign.

Linda Cooney told Bisch that about 1 a.m. on the day of the shooting, Kevin Cooney had grabbed her, shoved her down and said he was going to kill her.

Bisch noted she had scratches and bruises, which were photographed by police.

Linda Cooney said she didn't understand why Kevin Cooney was so angry, but that he was prone to volatile outbursts.

An earlier witness at the hearing, Clark County firefighter Kevin Hoyt, testified he had received text messages about
3 a.m. June 28 from Linda Cooney describing Taylor as an "evil whore" and "a true succubus."

Hoyt heads a local nonprofit organization called It Ain't Chemo, where Taylor was a board member. The organization helps provide cancer patients with supplies and emotional support.

Linda Cooney, 64, faces charges of attempted murder, battery with use of a deadly weapon, intimidating a witness and stalking.

Kevin Cooney was shot in the neck and paralyzed. Authorities said the gun Linda Cooney used to shoot her son was the same one she used to kill his father 21 years ago in Florida. A jury acquitted her in that death thanks in part to testimony from Kevin Cooney, who witnessed the shooting.

Kevin Cooney has not cooperated with authorities, although he told medical staff that his mother shot him.

Kevin Cooney, who worked as a bouncer at nightclubs on the Strip and downtown, is an incomplete quadriplegic, meaning he has some movement in his arms and legs. He has been described by friends as gregarious and outgoing.

Linda Cooney's lawyers have said she "continues to steadfastly maintain her innocence."

The preliminary hearing is expected to continue next week. When it concludes, Jansen will decide whether prosecutors have enough evidence to take the case to trial.

A grand jury indicted Linda Cooney earlier this year, but the indictment was tossed out in August after a district judge ruled prosecutors presented prejudicial evidence of a previous domestic violence incident between the mother and son.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.