Enoch Z. Turner (Shelby County Sheriff’s Office) and deputies outside the home where he killed Heather and Bentley Cook (WMC/YouTube screenshot)
A 25-year-old man in Tennessee will spend the remainder of his days behind bars for killing his 4-month-old son and the baby’s 32-year-old mother, stabbing both victims to death in an apparent effort to evade being legally and financially responsible for the little boy.
Shelby County District Court Judge Chris Craft on Saturday ordered Enoch Z. Turner serve a sentence of life in a state correctional facility for the 2019 slayings of Heather Cook and young Bentley Cook, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Prosecutors said that Turner broke into Cook’s home and stabbed her “over 100 times” then stabbed Bentley 10 times before setting the house on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence of the killings.
Following a four-week trial, jurors found Turner guilty on two counts of first-degree murder as well as one count each of aggravated child abuse, aggravated arson, and especially aggravated burglary. Craft sentenced Turner to two life sentences, to be served consecutively, meaning one after the other. He also ordered Turner to serve 12 years on the burglary charge and 25 years on the aggravated child abuse and aggravated arson charges, which all run concurrent to the first life sentence, meaning at the same time.
“He will never be released from jail,” Deputy District Attorney Paul Hagerman, who served as a prosecutor on the case along with Chief Prosecutor Eric Christensen, said in a statement following the sentencing. “The family wants everyone to remember that being a mom meant everything to Heather (Cook); and even though Bently (Cook) only lived four months, everyone could tell that his mom meant everything to him. It has always been our mission to ensure from that date on that Turner never gets out of jail.”
According to news releases from the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, Cook had initiated legal proceedings against Turner to establish that he was Bentley’s father. Turner was scheduled to take a paternity test on Sept. 14, 2019.
But on Sept. 13, 2019, deputies with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and firefighters responded to calls about a fire at Cook’s residence in the 6900 block of Bennington Circle. The initial call came from one of Cook’s family members who said they “found the house filled with smoke.”
Authorities at the scene soon located Heather Cook and Bentley Cook, each suffering from multiple stab wounds in an upstairs bedroom of the home. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
The fire marshal said that the fire appeared to have been started intentionally in the center of the room where the bodies were found.
Authorities quickly homed in on Turner as a suspect after family members told investigators that he and Heather Cook had been “in an argument over child custody issues.” Turner was located and arrested later that same day.
Prosecutors said that Turner was “motivated by a desire to evade his paternal responsibilities” when he brutally took the lives of Heather and Bentley Cook.
Despite filing notice that the state would pursue the death penalty against Turner, prosecutors said they agreed to the consecutive life sentences after speaking with the victims’ family members.
“This ensures Turner dies in prison, and that was what the family wanted. Their peace matters,” Hagerman said. “Saturday night, Heather and Bentley (Cook) got some justice. The next day, Mother’s Day, the family took some extra time to remember them — this time with the peace that Turner can never hurt anyone like them again.”
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