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My School Friend Was Murdered By Her Mother’s Ex-Boyfriend
Jasmine McDonald died on November 12th of 2003. Her body was found in the basement of the home next to hers.
I met Jasmine McDonald in 3rd grade, and we played every day at recess together. I remember her sweet smile and contagious laughter.
This article was difficult for me to write, but it’s important that I share her story because I think about her all the time. Jasmine was an eighth-grader and straight-A student at Sulzberger Middle School at the time of her death. She liked rap music and braiding her hair, and wanted to be a doctor when she grew up.
McDonald’s mother had a “tortured” and increasingly abusive relationship with Peter Cook that fell apart in June 2003. Charlene McDonald got a protective from abuse order preventing Cook from having contact with the family. However, Cook returned in October, Charlene McDonald testified and said that Cook beat her severely while she was on the living room couch. According to Charlene the attack ended when Jasmine McDonald and her brother jumped on Cook and he fled.
Charlene McDonald had two children with Cook over the course of their 12-year relationship. Days after that attack, Charlene McDonald said, Cook returned again and threw a garbage can through the window of the rowhouse.
