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The Setup and Shooting of Immanuel Pursel

On March 22nd, 2017, 18-year-old Ky’Andrea Cook met Perry Nida on a mobile app. After chatting briefly, she told him she wanted to meet him in person.

Nida agreed to meet her, but he didn’t go alone. He brought his friend Immanuel Pursel along just in case. The two drove 45 minutes from Palm Coast to South Daytona, Florida. When they arrived at the agreed-upon location, Cook climbed into the men’s vehicle and started chatting with them.

Nida probably thought it was his lucky day, but he was wrong. It was all a setup. When the time was right, Cook’s boyfriend, 16-year-old Kendrick Bass, hopped in the back seat with a gun. He ordered Nida out of the car so he could steal it, but before Nida could comply, Pursel pushed Bass.

Bass fired two shots. One of them hit Pursel. Bass and Cook fled the scene without the vehicle they wanted to steal. Pursel was taken to the hospital with a gunshot to the abdomen; luckily, he survived.

Two days later, Cook and Bass teamed up to carjack someone else. Police arrested Cook on April 27th, 2017.

She was charged with principal carjacking with a deadly weapon, principal to attempted carjacking with a deadly weapon, and principal to aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. She was facing life in prison.

Legal Proceedings

She pleaded no contest to all three charges, and her attorney told her she was getting probation. But he was wrong; in June 2017, the judge sentenced her to 20 years in prison. She broke down crying while her mother also had an emotional breakdown. The incident quickly went viral, and no one felt sorry for the Cook.

In August 2017, the judge allowed Cook to withdraw her no-contest plea after her former lawyer testified that he had told her she would not go to prison if she had entered an open plea. That meant she no longer had to serve 20 years in prison.

In 2018, Cook again pleaded no contest to the same three charges, but this time, she had an agreement with the prosecution and was cooperating against Bass. She faced a minimum sentence of 10 1/2 years.

The News-JournalOnline reported that she was given the chance to speak at sentencing and said, “I apologize for my actions to the victim’s family and victims. I am a changed person I did learn my lesson from all this.” She also said, “I want to inspire younger girls and younger youth to not make the same mistakes that I made,” Cook said. “And I just want to better myself and put this behind me.”

The judge responded by saying, “I think you’ve got good in you and I think you’ve got potential. Don’t lose sight of that.” He sentenced her to 11 years in prison and 20 years of probation. She is serving her sentence and probation concurrently. She will have nine years of probation left after her release.

Bass was arrested ten months after the crimes. He later pleaded guilty to the exact three charges as Cook. He is serving 20 years in prison and will be locked up until December 5th, 2037.

Potential Release

Cook is set to be released from prison on February 15th, 2027. She will be 28 years old and hopefully will come out a changed person.