Covington killer gets life sentence

A Covington man who killed his wife and stepdaughter and shot another man earlier this year will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Cedric Cook pleaded guilty Tuesday to the January triple shooting and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional five years, authorities said.

Covington police responded to a home in the 3000 block of Usher Street about 9 p.m. Jan. 16, police said. There, officers found the bodies of 41-year-old Tijuana Cook and her daughter, 23-year-old Michelle Olivia Dickerson.

Dickerson’s boyfriend Theodore Betton, was shot in the abdomen and arm outside the home, but he survived his wounds, police said.

Authorities said Tuesday that Cook shot his wife, stepdaughter and her boyfriend with an automatic rifle.

At the time of the shooting, Tijuana Cook was on the phone with her mother, Newton County prosecutors said in a news release.

After shooting his wife, Cedric Cook picked up the phone and told his mother-in-law what he’d done, police said. He also shot at some of Dickerson’s friends as they ran from the home.

The home was riddled with bullets and investigators recovered more than 50 casings at the scene, prosecutors said.

Cook was arrested shortly after the shooting when he walked out of some woods near the home and admitted to being involved in the shooting, police said previously.

He pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of malice murder, three counts of felony murder, four counts of aggravated assault, four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.