Candice Cooper

A Florida jury this week found a Lindale man guilty of drowning or strangling his girlfriend to death at a Key West beach in 2017.

Billy Earl Baker, 52, was found guilty of second-degree murder in a Monroe County, Florida, court Monday for the death of Candice Wesson Cooper, 38, of Big Sandy on Smathers Beach, court records show. Sentencing is set to start Jan. 20, according to records.

Baker was arrested Jan. 29, 2018, at his home and taken to the Upshur County Jail. He was the extradited to Florida.

In 2018, Baker entered a not guilty plea to the murder charge and demanded a jury trial, according to a written plea agreement filed in the 16th Judicial Circuit Court in Monroe County.

In August 2017, Key West police officers responded to Smathers Beach to a report of a woman who had passed out in the water and drowned. Baker agreed to give the police a statement on the night of Wesson Cooper’s death, according to the arrest affidavit.

The affidavit states Baker and Wesson Cooper drove up the Keys for a beach trip, but decided to go back to Key West and to Smathers Beach. Baker said they went to their hotel room and later decided to swim back to their vehicle instead of walking.

Baker was floating and Wesson Cooper was floating behind his left shoulder about six feet away, Baker told police.

“Billy said he did not hear or see anything, but when he looked over at Candice she was floating face down in the water and not moving,” the document reads. “Billy said he let Candice float for a few minutes thinking she was playing around.”

According to the document, Baker ran to the couple’s rented vehicle and grabbed his cellphone to call 911 once he got Wesson Cooper to the shore. A woman who came to help and gave CPR to Wesson Cooper said she did not know how the woman drowned.

The next day, Baker had another police interview, which he later stopped after saying he would not answer questions without a lawyer. He was then allowed to leave, according to the arrest affidavit.

The woman who assisted Baker while he was on the beach with Wessen Cooper told police she saw Baker straddling Wesson Cooper who was not wearing a shirt, the document said.

She realized Baker was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher who was talking him through CPR, and the woman jumped in to help Baker administer CPR.

According to the affidavit, the woman told police Wesson Cooper looked purple and had a white foam emitting from her nose and mouth. She said to police Baker appeared panicky, according to the document.

The woman told police Baker was not doing CPR when she came to his aid. She said she had almost pushed Baker off of Wesson Cooper to start giving her CPR.

“Billy was straddling Candice’s stomach and he was moving his hands and arms up and down on her chest,” the document reads.

A detective contacted family members and close friends who told police the couple had problems with alcohol.

“Billy and Candice would be intoxicated early in the morning and then would get into arguments, sometimes while they were working together,” the affidavit reads.

“Based on the Medical Examiner’s autopsy report and Candice’s family and friends claiming Billy and Candice’s relationship had a history of violence recently, I believe there is probable cause that Billy committed the crime of murder in the second degree,” the document reads.