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LAYTON — A woman who police say was having an illegal sexual relationship with a teenage boy — who was stabbed or cut 16 times by the woman's ex-boyfriend — tried to withhold evidence because she didn't want to be a "snitch," according to prosecutors.
Tadiana Cooper, 20, of Layton was charged Tuesday in 2nd District Court with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony; and four counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a class A misdemeanor.
Darryl Levi Lindley, 21, of Layton, who is also the father of Cooper's child, was charged earlier in 2nd District Court with attempted murder.
Cooper was living with a 16-year-old boy and was sexually active with him, according to the charging documents. In January, police say Lindley decided he wanted to fight the new boyfriend and the two agreed to meet on Jan. 22.
"They also agreed that this fight would not include weapons," the charges state.
But on the day of the fight, while Cooper was recording the altercation between the two on her cellphone, "Lindley reached into the pocket of his hoodie, removed a bladed weapon, and began slashing and stabbing the juvenile, cutting him badly," according to the charges.
The teenager received more than 16 stab or cut wounds on his wrist, arm, back and chest, according to investigators.
While at the hospital, police say Cooper and Lindley exchanged text messages during which she informed him how badly the 16-year-old was injured.
"Lindley admitted to her in his reply messages that he had been trying to kill the juvenile. When police became involved, Cooper, at first, refused to cooperate, stating that she did not want to be a snitch. She deleted the messages where Lindley admitted to his intent to kill her juvenile boyfriend. And she lied to the police about what conversations she had had," the charges state.
When police became involved, Cooper, at first, refused to cooperate, stating that she did not want to be a snitch.
–Charges
Police seized Cooper's phone and served a search warrant on it to retrieve the deleted messages. While doing so, they also found videos of her engaging in sexual activity with the 16-year-old, according to the charges.
Prosecutors also noted in the court documents that both Lindley and Cooper were on probation for a conviction of robbery with a weapon in Davis County in 2019.
"While on probation, both absconded from it and fled to Texas," the court documents say. "Once arrested for this and as a result of the probation violation, Cooper was placed on zero tolerance probation and she was ordered to have no contact with Darryl Lindley."
