The courtroom buzzed with whispers the moment Ryan Cooper, 17, walked in, his chin high, sneakers squeaking against the polished floor.
The teen didn’t look like someone who was about to face sentencing for a string of burglaries across his suburban Ohio neighborhood. Instead, he looked like he owned the place—hands shoved into the pockets of his hoodie, a smirk playing on his lips. As Alan Whitmore, a seasoned man, watched the boy swagger toward the…