March 31, 2020 • 28 mins
On March 4, 2016, Shapearl Wells wakes up to a bamming at her door. It’s the police, telling her that her 22-year-old son, Courtney Copeland, has been shot. Detectives tell her Courtney drove his BMW to a police station for help. But Shapearl’s grief turns into suspicion when police start asking her questions.
A co-production of Topic Studios, The Intercept, the Invisible Institute, and iHeartRadio, in association with Tenderfoot TV.
We want to hear from you, email us at info@somebodypodcast.com or leave us a voicemail at 773-270-0121. For more information, go to somebodypodcast.com.
Host: Shapearl Wells
Producers: Alison Flowers and Bill Healy
Story Editor: Sarah Geis
Associate Producer: Ellen Glover
Executive Producer, Invisible Institute: Jamie Kalven
Executive Producers, Topic Studios: Maria Zuckerman, Christy Gressman and Leital Molad with Special Thanks to Lizzie Jacobs
Supervising Producer, The Intercept: Roger Hodge
Sound Design: Carl Scott and Bart Warshaw
Mix Engineer: Michael Raphael
Theme Song: “Everybody’s Something,” Chance the Rapper
Additional Reporting: Sam Stecklow, Annie Nguyen, Kahari Blackburn, Rajiv Sinclair, Henri Adams, Matilda Vojak, Dana Brozost-Kelleher, Frances McDonald, Diana Akmakjian, Andrew Fan, Erisa Apantaku and Maddie Anderson.
Translation Support: Benny Hernandez Ocampo and Emma Perez
Fact Checking: Nawal Arjini
Original Music: Eric Butler and Nate Fox of the Social Experiment
Special thanks to Chaclyn Hunt, Maira Khwaja, Andrew Fan, Anwuli Anigbo, Trina Reynolds-Tyler, Sukari Stone, Erisa Apantaku, Craig Futterman, Rick Rowley, Yanilda Gonzalez, Forrest Stuart, Mariah Garcia, Sarah Kinter, Shannon Heffernan, Aaron Moselle, Alan Mills, Vidura Jong-Bahadur, Jason Schumer, Justin Williams and the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation Media Center, Matt Topic, Chris Rasmussen, Bennett Epstein, David Bralow and Julie Wolf.
Theme song “Everybody’s Something” by Chancelor J. Bennett and DJ Ozone with compositions by Roger Karsher, Chuck Magione and James Yancey of Universal Music Publishing Group and Slum Village (R.L. Altman III, Titus Glover/Baatin, J Dilla); recording artist/performance by Chance the Rapper, appearing courtesy of himself and Chance the Rapper LLC.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What you're about to hear in the following episode does
not implicate the Chicago Police in the murder of Courtney Copeland.
When my son Courtney was twenty one years old, he
got a BMW convertible. He loved that car like it
(00:20):
was his girlfriend. He would talk to it like good mooney,
hello baby. The first time Baby rolled into our driveway,
it was late at night, Courtney had drip top by.
Courtney had the music blasting all the way up. Courtney.
(00:45):
It's like like a little black party, you know, in
the middle of my driveway. He had the top down.
It wasn't even that pot outside, but of course he
had the top down about them on. It was a
beautiful moment, and that was probably one of the most
(01:06):
happiest moments I've seen him. Robber robbery down a granted
central gunman just said he was shot. Okay, look at me, am,
I throw into okay right away. But not even one
(01:30):
year later, my son wound up with a bullet in
his back outside of Chicago police station. And there are
still so many unanswered questions about what led to the
death of two year old Courtney Copeland. Family member say
Copeland was on his way to a friend's house when
he was shot through his car window. A bullet hit
(01:51):
his bag. He managed to flag down a police car
in front of the twenty five District station and was
rushed to a hospital. The wound was fatal. There's what
you hear on the news that Courtney got shot, drove
himself to a police station, where officers did everything they
could to help him. His mother's heart tonight left in pieces,
and then there's a troop. I believe that not enough
(02:15):
has been done for thought of Courtney murder, Like, what
would you like that I haven't done. I personally would
have went back and reinterviewed everybody to make sure that
we could. My name is Chaparral Wells. I'm Courtney Copeland's mom,
(02:35):
and this is somebody every body so by every day,
no bide nothing. No, that's right. Chicago police have one
(03:06):
of the lowest murder soft rates in the country, and
it's even lower if you're black. So when it came
time to find out who killed my son, I knew
I'd have to figure it out on my own. I'm
gonna take you with me step by step in my investigation.
(03:32):
But first let me tell you about my son. You
need to know who he was in life, because we're
going to spend a lot of time talking about his death.
Courtney was born a day after my twenty one birthday
on New Year's Eve, and they just still remember him
(03:56):
sleeping on my chest sometimes. That's my mom, Reneme. And
his favorite thing was warm milk, and he talked about
that and tell him the dunk Grandma. I still remember
the warm milk you give me when I was a baby,
and that this stuff. They were so sweet. What do
you remember about the early years? He would have like
(04:17):
little jokes and stuff. Here's my husband, Corney's father. He's
raised him since he was four years old. You know,
like in fact, like the first joke he had told me,
he was like, what do you call uh stolen cheese?
I said what he said, not your cheese. I'm like,
I'm like it was kind of corny, but it was
(04:38):
still funny. At the same time, he had y'all both
have cornball jokes. That's what y'all got alone. Here he
is goofing off with some of his friends. How are
you doing today? What's your name? Corney's pretending to be
a contestant on American Idol he in the seventh grade,
(05:01):
right at the age where his voice is changed. Makes
sense right now, but it will. It was some little
loose how to make it fail in regulations are going
to Hollywood. Courtney sure knew how to turn on the
charm to get what he wanted. And Corney was kind
(05:21):
of a malipulator with you. You know. It was like, uh,
he asked me for twenty dollars, and then turned around
and ask you for twenty dollars, and then he was
asking him for twenty dollars, and now he got sixty dollars,
got sixty dollar. That's how he would do it, and
I wish I could do it for him now. Courtney
was energetic and out going. I mean he was so handsome.
(05:44):
He had this carmel color skin and the most incredible smile.
He spent all his money, and I mean all his
money on food, clothes, haircuts, and shoes. My mom just
came back from Wisconsin. She bought me this hat and
said go. After Corney died, I went through his phone.
Look uncle, all those videos and photos and social media.
(06:10):
It made me feel like he was still right there
with me. Really. We called him Gucci in high school.
I don't know if it was because he was fleet
or because he looked like Gucci man, but we just
we called him Gucci. One of his friends was a
kid named Chancellor Bennett. You might know this guy has
chanced the rapper. I got suspend it. You got to
(06:32):
spending the cheap and a hundred blood sports teen four
hundred minutes fans run in and fansy hands from Mr
Bennet that racket o. But yeah, I met Gui and
I was like in summer school. You know what I'm
saying not to and I don't hope. I hope that
doesn't have like a negative connotation and stuff. But like
I mean, I was in summing school. Everybody goes to
something school. So yeah, he would free style with me,
(06:52):
well you know, kick it after after school and stuff
and just be rapping walking down the street and be
boxing and stuff like that. Courtney would always tell me, Mom,
this guy is gonna be huge. That was like a
thing at the time. Like I was passing out CDs,
Like I was burning c ds and like standing outside
of Columbia and he would be standing out there with me,
or like he would take c ds and from me
(07:14):
and give them to other people and stuff too. They
went to Jones College Prep. It's one of the top
public schools in Chicago. Courtney played on the basketball team
and he helped them win a city championship. When he
(07:36):
was seventeen or eighteen, he got a tattoo of a
basketball across his chest and it says ball too. I fall.
I've always hated tattoos because I'm a religious person and
I believe tattoos are a desecration of the body. When
I first saw the tattoo, I literally cried and I said,
you just want to hurt your mama, don't you. Then
(07:58):
he got more tattoos, including one that says Mama's boy,
how do you like that? Courtney got a partial scholarship
to play ball in Indiana, but we could only afford
to help him so much, so he had to come
back home after one semester. He got a job as
(08:19):
a janitor and a Dunkin Donuts. Gotta get ready for work,
Oh my god, put all my pants, put on my shoes,
put on my shirt, ready for work. He was wandering
through life until a friend recruited him into the business
called World Ventures. Corney's job was to sign up members
for discount vacations all over the world. Courtney was determined
to go to the top. And that's when I really
(08:42):
show Courtney turning into a man. That's my mom again.
Because of his positive mental attitude that he developed, his
change of thinking helped people treated him. He became more
of a leader now and just one year, Courtney signed
up so many people. The company helped him lease that
(09:02):
BMW as a bonus. It is World Ventures, Wings and Wheels.
Step one, get your wings, Step two, Get your Wheels.
Courtney asked me if I was signed for the car
for him, and I told him no way. If he
wanted to get someone else to help him, that was
(09:24):
on him. So he convinced his friend Christian Hernandez to
co sign for Courtney. The BMW was validation and we
all loved that car. His cousin Sean, who's a rapper,
used it in his music video money Him addicted to
(09:45):
the all I'm a tennis cast, All I noise. Count
that dog, Count that dog count that you know. It
was just like a typical rap video, Sexy girls dancing
all around and the guys and money and things corneys
in the video to count that dog. Yeah, count that dog.
(10:07):
Corney was living the high life. Just a few months
before he died. He went on a trip to Cancun. Hey,
I supposed to be Dr Donald's right now, but I
did something different. I say, yes, I stayed consistent. I
worked hard. I mean, this was a trip of a lifetime.
He was just like he was on top of the world.
(10:30):
He did the Macarena in the hotel lobby, he went
scuba diving, brow the jet ski. He was doing really,
really well, getting close to moving out my basement and
moving in with some friends. No, here's what I know
(11:11):
about the last day of my son's life. Corney helped
a friend move a sofa. He talked to my mom
about becoming an in home caregiver. The application was due
the next day. That day, I remember, I got my
hair done, and that night I caught some of the
Republican presidential debates. Never heard of this word. Look at
(11:34):
those hands? Are they small hands? While I was watching that,
Corney was given a presentation for World Ventures. Around midnight,
Corney swung by pythons, his favorite piece of place. It's
a couple of blocks from my house in Cicero, just
outside of Chicago, and he ran into his friend Chris.
(11:55):
The next day, we were supposed to go on the
little road trip. We're gonna be there for the weekend,
so we're preparing everything. Courtney show Chris this book he
was reading. It was called Think and Grow Rich. He
was already on chapter three. I always tell people this
story because it felt weird because he left the parking
right from Pythons and I didn't even get in my
(12:16):
car yet. You know, usually I said, by somebody, I'll
get in my car and I go. But I stood outside.
I'm like, man, that's crazy. You know. He hit the
bonus of the car like he's happy. He's reading that book.
But Courtney really wasn't headed home. It turns out he
had this girlfriend, a co worker he was dating, and
he was heading to see her. I replayed this nice
(12:42):
so many times in my head. I wish I had
texted him like I usually would do, to see when
he'd be back home. Maybe then he would have just
come back to the house. I don't know why I
didn't check on him that night. I'm excited, man. Reason
why is because you know, I understand that I'm God's
(13:02):
highest form of creation. Before he drove into the city,
Courtney posted on snapchat. He's in his car wearing a
red hoodie under his pea coat. He looks so happy
and hopeful that I wanted obtaining my life. I can
do him. I just gotta believe in myself. His name
on Snapchat was born Leader thirty four. Thirty four was
(13:26):
Courtney's favorite number, and the night he died was March four, three,
four hour after he posted on snapchat, my son was
being rushed to the hospital. I am calling because I
just received a patient here to our er. The hospital
(13:48):
called the police in Cicero, where I live. And what's
her name of His name is Courtney O. P L
A N D. Want his mom advice that he's in
the hospital. He was actually en route to I guess
the police station nearby because he had been shot and
(14:10):
then he came in by ambulance. I don't know if
you want to tell her what the nature of the
injury is yet, probably not trying to want to heed
in the hospital. A little after two o'clock in the morning,
the Ciero police came bamming on our door. When I
(14:32):
opened the door, he asked me, did I know a
Cortney Copeland. I was already thinking that this is bad.
The police told us that Corney was in the hospital
in Chicago, and that's it. And at that point before
(14:53):
I remember, you're dropping to your knees, said Mom. I
knew he did. They knew he's gonne. They just don't
do the if they don't, you know. This is when
someone did. I assumed that it had to be some
type of auto accident because Corney was always known for
texting and driving. I remember my husband, Brent, driving our
(15:18):
families to Illinois Masonic Hospital. My mom, Courtney's sisters, my aunt,
we were all there. We rolled in our town and
Country minivan and it was in the middle of the
night and I don't even recall any other cars being
on the road. Right away, the staff wanted to take
(15:46):
us to the family room, but I knew. I knew
what the family room was. That's when they tell you
that your kid is dead. And I didn't want to go.
They sent in this nurse, a very kind nurse. She
(16:08):
stayed with me, she held my hand to try to
keep me calm. I had no idea then how important
she would become to my investigation. That's when the doctor
came out and told us the news, you know that
(16:29):
he had died from a gunshot wound, and we were like, well,
why why, what do you mean a gunshot wound? Who
shot him? When the doctor said Courtney was shot, that
was like an unbelievable We didn't hear anything else. Everybody
drops to the floor, screaming, yelling okay, oh no, no, no,
(16:52):
because that was the last thing that we would think
Courtney would be involved in it, any form of shooting,
because he was not that type of individual, okay, and
he was a non violent person. He would really know
he would not be involved in anyone there would him guns.
The doctor told us that when Corney arrived, they opened
(17:15):
up his chest to try to save him. I've been
at the hospital for over an hour and I still
hadn't seen my son, and you know, as a mother,
you want to have that confirmation that this is indeed
your child. They told me I couldn't see him until
(17:38):
detectives got there, and I told him, I said, well,
I'm gonna tell you right now. If I can't see
my son, I'm gonna tear this whole hospital up. They
finally let us see Courtney. He was on a hospital
bed and the trauma unit m. After a few moments,
(18:03):
I asked everyone to leave because I had to be
with him. I had to be with him by myself.
I began to touch him. His body was still warm.
I caressed his face and kissed his forehead, and I
(18:27):
told him I was sick. I'm sorry I wasn't there
for you when you needed me the most. And I
walked out of the room. And then it really hit me.
The Corney was gone, and I just collapsed. Yeah. Corney's
(19:05):
friends and our extended family were piling into the hospital
waiting room. I remember two detectives coming in. They were
white and middle aged, and they told us what they knew.
They said Corney was shot in his car and drove
himself to the police station. Corney jumped out of his
(19:26):
car and flagged down an officer for help, but the
car was still moving, so the officer told him to
put it in park. So Corney hopped back into the
car and put the car in park. And then they
said that Corney ran over to the officer again and
grabbed his arm and said I've been shot before collapsing.
(19:57):
Then came the moment when felt something more than grief.
I felt suspicious. See the detective said they wanted to
ask me some questions, and their first one they asked
me if Courtney was the owner of the BMW. Remember
(20:21):
when I told you that Corney had to get a
co signer for the car, Christian Hernandez. Christian's name was
actually on the registration and not Cortney's. Courtney had been
stopped before because of this, so when the police asked
me if he was the real owner of the car,
I started to think maybe this was a police stop
(20:41):
gone wrong, you know, like Philando Castile up in Minnesota.
Maybe the police stopped him after running his plates and
seeing a black man driving a car registered in a
Hispanics man's name. The first thing that Courtney's friends did
(21:17):
is went looking for clues. They went to Belmont Craigan,
the neighborhood where Courtney was shot. They saw skid marks
and some broken glass on this corner near Catholic Church.
They scooped up the glass and talked to a neighbor
who said she heard gunshots. We put up reward posters
all over the neighborhood so we would with the flyers
(21:41):
and and we were on the radio, which anybody that
can help us get injured. First, we offered a five
thousand dollar reward, then a six thousand, then a sixty
six hundred. In the end we put up ten thousand dollars,
but we got no answers. We try to keep Courtney
(22:05):
story alive in the news. Here I am on a
local show called Jamaica Fun. Give us a little background
of Courtney. What what? What did Courtney do? Corney? Was?
I seen your sales rep and World Ventures travel industry
and he was a rising member of the of the
Chicagoland area, so he had I wasn't just trying to
(22:26):
solve his case. I was also fighting to protect his name.
Police Copeland was not a gang member. They can only
guess right now why he was shot. He graduated. Police
said he wasn't a game member. Why was that even
a question? I had to do everything I could to
protect his image. When reporters asked to use photos of him,
(22:47):
I made sure he looked his best four. I just
don't on the narrative to be negative about myself. I couldn't.
He does he was not that that's my spear. Okay,
she preferre We used the picture of him in the
tux that's on his Facebook page. Ever did this to us?
Uh as, did you turn yourself ins that you ask
(23:11):
for forgiveness from God? Looking back at my face on
TV that night he died, It's literally hard to believe
that was even me. How many against to die, how
many black children die Chicago. I remember being in so
(23:32):
much pain, but I needed to find answers. That was
the only way I knew how to keep going. A
few people did come forward with tips. One guy actually
told me he was driving by the police station and
saw Courtney on the ground with cops just standing around him.
(23:56):
This bystander basically told me when he looked at the scene,
he felt that the police were doing something to him.
And then when I began to press him, trying to
get more information, and that's when he was like, you know,
I don't really want to get involved. You know, you
don't understand the police around here. They'll come after me.
(24:18):
And then he finally told me, he was like, look,
I have children and I can't risk my life to
basically tell you what I saw. Then there was a
toe truck driver. He took a video. It's hard to
make out, but it looks like Courtney is laying on
(24:40):
the ground outside the police station. The lights are flashing
and no one is helping him. One of Courtney's friends,
a world venture guy named June, says he got in
touch with the toe truck driver I mean history, says
his theory was that the police didn't That was That's
the first thing that came out his mind. That's what
(25:00):
he's been saying since the beginning. What the police told
me is that they did everything they could to save him.
But you know what, it just wasn't adding up. So
I said to myself, I just got to bury my
baby and lay him the rest, and then I'll find
out what really happened. I needed some strength, so I
(25:28):
turned to Courtney the only way I could. Any obstacle
you know that you're going through with in your life today,
Understand that God would never put you through anything that
you cannot handle. The reason why they call it a
past is because you already went through. Remember how I
told you that. Since Courtney's death, I go through his phone.
Guess how he had me listed uh with three exclamation
(25:49):
points as an oh my mom's calling. And you know what,
he was right to be afraid, because when I get
onto something, I don't let up. And I'm putting the
police on blast right now. I will find out the
truth of what happened to my son, and when I do,
(26:10):
the whole world will know it. Every bid by every day,
No Bide, Deny Somebody is a co production of The
(26:31):
Invisible Institute, The Intercept, Topic Studios and I Heart Radio
in association with Tenderfoot TV. I'm chaparral Wells. This podcast
is produced by Alison Flowers and Bill Heally. Sarah Geye
is our story editor. Ellen Glover is our associate producer
(26:51):
for The Invisible Institute. Jamie Calvin is executive producer for
Topic Studios. Maria Zuckerman, Christie Gressman and Leeds al Malad
are executive producers. Special thanks to Lizzie Jacobs for The Intercept.
Roger Hodge, Deputy Editor, is supervising producer. Sound designed by
Carl Scott and Bart Warshaw. Michael Raphael is our mixed engineer.
(27:16):
Our theme song, Everybody Something Is by Chance the Rapper.
Original music for the podcast by Nate Fox of The
Social Experiment and Eric Butler. Additional reporting by Sam Steklow,
Annie When, Khari Blackburn, Raje Sinclair, Henry Adams, Matilda Voyad,
Dana Roso's Kellerher Frances McDonald, Diana Archmagian, Maddie Anderson, Andrew
(27:42):
Fan and risa Apantaku. Translation support by Benny Hernandez Ocampo
and Emma Perez. Fact checking by Noah Are Jenny Special
thanks to Chris Rasmussen, Bennett Epstein, Matt Topic, David bralow In,
Julie Wolf. We want to hear from you. Email us
(28:03):
at info at somebody podcast dot com or leave us
a voicemail at seven seven three to seven zero zero
one two one. To learn more about this case and
for links to additional materials, go to our show page
at somebody podcast dot com. You can also find a
(28:24):
list of everyone we want to think they're so many
people helped us along the way.
What you're about to hear in the following episode does
not implicate the Chicago Police in the murder of Courtney Copeland.
When my son Courtney was twenty one years old, he
got a BMW convertible. He loved that car like it
(00:20):
was his girlfriend. He would talk to it like good mooney,
hello baby. The first time Baby rolled into our driveway,
it was late at night, Courtney had drip top by.
Courtney had the music blasting all the way up. Courtney.
(00:45):
It's like like a little black party, you know, in
the middle of my driveway. He had the top down.
It wasn't even that pot outside, but of course he
had the top down about them on. It was a
beautiful moment, and that was probably one of the most
(01:06):
happiest moments I've seen him. Robber robbery down a granted
central gunman just said he was shot. Okay, look at me, am,
I throw into okay right away. But not even one
(01:30):
year later, my son wound up with a bullet in
his back outside of Chicago police station. And there are
still so many unanswered questions about what led to the
death of two year old Courtney Copeland. Family member say
Copeland was on his way to a friend's house when
he was shot through his car window. A bullet hit
(01:51):
his bag. He managed to flag down a police car
in front of the twenty five District station and was
rushed to a hospital. The wound was fatal. There's what
you hear on the news that Courtney got shot, drove
himself to a police station, where officers did everything they
could to help him. His mother's heart tonight left in pieces,
and then there's a troop. I believe that not enough
(02:15):
has been done for thought of Courtney murder, Like, what
would you like that I haven't done. I personally would
have went back and reinterviewed everybody to make sure that
we could. My name is Chaparral Wells. I'm Courtney Copeland's mom,
(02:35):
and this is somebody every body so by every day,
no bide nothing. No, that's right. Chicago police have one
(03:06):
of the lowest murder soft rates in the country, and
it's even lower if you're black. So when it came
time to find out who killed my son, I knew
I'd have to figure it out on my own. I'm
gonna take you with me step by step in my investigation.
(03:32):
But first let me tell you about my son. You
need to know who he was in life, because we're
going to spend a lot of time talking about his death.
Courtney was born a day after my twenty one birthday
on New Year's Eve, and they just still remember him
(03:56):
sleeping on my chest sometimes. That's my mom, Reneme. And
his favorite thing was warm milk, and he talked about
that and tell him the dunk Grandma. I still remember
the warm milk you give me when I was a baby,
and that this stuff. They were so sweet. What do
you remember about the early years? He would have like
(04:17):
little jokes and stuff. Here's my husband, Corney's father. He's
raised him since he was four years old. You know,
like in fact, like the first joke he had told me,
he was like, what do you call uh stolen cheese?
I said what he said, not your cheese. I'm like,
I'm like it was kind of corny, but it was
(04:38):
still funny. At the same time, he had y'all both
have cornball jokes. That's what y'all got alone. Here he
is goofing off with some of his friends. How are
you doing today? What's your name? Corney's pretending to be
a contestant on American Idol he in the seventh grade,
(05:01):
right at the age where his voice is changed. Makes
sense right now, but it will. It was some little
loose how to make it fail in regulations are going
to Hollywood. Courtney sure knew how to turn on the
charm to get what he wanted. And Corney was kind
(05:21):
of a malipulator with you. You know. It was like, uh,
he asked me for twenty dollars, and then turned around
and ask you for twenty dollars, and then he was
asking him for twenty dollars, and now he got sixty dollars,
got sixty dollar. That's how he would do it, and
I wish I could do it for him now. Courtney
was energetic and out going. I mean he was so handsome.
(05:44):
He had this carmel color skin and the most incredible smile.
He spent all his money, and I mean all his
money on food, clothes, haircuts, and shoes. My mom just
came back from Wisconsin. She bought me this hat and
said go. After Corney died, I went through his phone.
Look uncle, all those videos and photos and social media.
(06:10):
It made me feel like he was still right there
with me. Really. We called him Gucci in high school.
I don't know if it was because he was fleet
or because he looked like Gucci man, but we just
we called him Gucci. One of his friends was a
kid named Chancellor Bennett. You might know this guy has
chanced the rapper. I got suspend it. You got to
(06:32):
spending the cheap and a hundred blood sports teen four
hundred minutes fans run in and fansy hands from Mr
Bennet that racket o. But yeah, I met Gui and
I was like in summer school. You know what I'm
saying not to and I don't hope. I hope that
doesn't have like a negative connotation and stuff. But like
I mean, I was in summing school. Everybody goes to
something school. So yeah, he would free style with me,
(06:52):
well you know, kick it after after school and stuff
and just be rapping walking down the street and be
boxing and stuff like that. Courtney would always tell me, Mom,
this guy is gonna be huge. That was like a
thing at the time. Like I was passing out CDs,
Like I was burning c ds and like standing outside
of Columbia and he would be standing out there with me,
or like he would take c ds and from me
(07:14):
and give them to other people and stuff too. They
went to Jones College Prep. It's one of the top
public schools in Chicago. Courtney played on the basketball team
and he helped them win a city championship. When he
(07:36):
was seventeen or eighteen, he got a tattoo of a
basketball across his chest and it says ball too. I fall.
I've always hated tattoos because I'm a religious person and
I believe tattoos are a desecration of the body. When
I first saw the tattoo, I literally cried and I said,
you just want to hurt your mama, don't you. Then
(07:58):
he got more tattoos, including one that says Mama's boy,
how do you like that? Courtney got a partial scholarship
to play ball in Indiana, but we could only afford
to help him so much, so he had to come
back home after one semester. He got a job as
(08:19):
a janitor and a Dunkin Donuts. Gotta get ready for work,
Oh my god, put all my pants, put on my shoes,
put on my shirt, ready for work. He was wandering
through life until a friend recruited him into the business
called World Ventures. Corney's job was to sign up members
for discount vacations all over the world. Courtney was determined
to go to the top. And that's when I really
(08:42):
show Courtney turning into a man. That's my mom again.
Because of his positive mental attitude that he developed, his
change of thinking helped people treated him. He became more
of a leader now and just one year, Courtney signed
up so many people. The company helped him lease that
(09:02):
BMW as a bonus. It is World Ventures, Wings and Wheels.
Step one, get your wings, Step two, Get your Wheels.
Courtney asked me if I was signed for the car
for him, and I told him no way. If he
wanted to get someone else to help him, that was
(09:24):
on him. So he convinced his friend Christian Hernandez to
co sign for Courtney. The BMW was validation and we
all loved that car. His cousin Sean, who's a rapper,
used it in his music video money Him addicted to
(09:45):
the all I'm a tennis cast, All I noise. Count
that dog, Count that dog count that you know. It
was just like a typical rap video, Sexy girls dancing
all around and the guys and money and things corneys
in the video to count that dog. Yeah, count that dog.
(10:07):
Corney was living the high life. Just a few months
before he died. He went on a trip to Cancun. Hey,
I supposed to be Dr Donald's right now, but I
did something different. I say, yes, I stayed consistent. I
worked hard. I mean, this was a trip of a lifetime.
He was just like he was on top of the world.
(10:30):
He did the Macarena in the hotel lobby, he went
scuba diving, brow the jet ski. He was doing really,
really well, getting close to moving out my basement and
moving in with some friends. No, here's what I know
(11:11):
about the last day of my son's life. Corney helped
a friend move a sofa. He talked to my mom
about becoming an in home caregiver. The application was due
the next day. That day, I remember, I got my
hair done, and that night I caught some of the
Republican presidential debates. Never heard of this word. Look at
(11:34):
those hands? Are they small hands? While I was watching that,
Corney was given a presentation for World Ventures. Around midnight,
Corney swung by pythons, his favorite piece of place. It's
a couple of blocks from my house in Cicero, just
outside of Chicago, and he ran into his friend Chris.
(11:55):
The next day, we were supposed to go on the
little road trip. We're gonna be there for the weekend,
so we're preparing everything. Courtney show Chris this book he
was reading. It was called Think and Grow Rich. He
was already on chapter three. I always tell people this
story because it felt weird because he left the parking
right from Pythons and I didn't even get in my
(12:16):
car yet. You know, usually I said, by somebody, I'll
get in my car and I go. But I stood outside.
I'm like, man, that's crazy. You know. He hit the
bonus of the car like he's happy. He's reading that book.
But Courtney really wasn't headed home. It turns out he
had this girlfriend, a co worker he was dating, and
he was heading to see her. I replayed this nice
(12:42):
so many times in my head. I wish I had
texted him like I usually would do, to see when
he'd be back home. Maybe then he would have just
come back to the house. I don't know why I
didn't check on him that night. I'm excited, man. Reason
why is because you know, I understand that I'm God's
(13:02):
highest form of creation. Before he drove into the city,
Courtney posted on snapchat. He's in his car wearing a
red hoodie under his pea coat. He looks so happy
and hopeful that I wanted obtaining my life. I can
do him. I just gotta believe in myself. His name
on Snapchat was born Leader thirty four. Thirty four was
(13:26):
Courtney's favorite number, and the night he died was March four, three,
four hour after he posted on snapchat, my son was
being rushed to the hospital. I am calling because I
just received a patient here to our er. The hospital
(13:48):
called the police in Cicero, where I live. And what's
her name of His name is Courtney O. P L
A N D. Want his mom advice that he's in
the hospital. He was actually en route to I guess
the police station nearby because he had been shot and
(14:10):
then he came in by ambulance. I don't know if
you want to tell her what the nature of the
injury is yet, probably not trying to want to heed
in the hospital. A little after two o'clock in the morning,
the Ciero police came bamming on our door. When I
(14:32):
opened the door, he asked me, did I know a
Cortney Copeland. I was already thinking that this is bad.
The police told us that Corney was in the hospital
in Chicago, and that's it. And at that point before
(14:53):
I remember, you're dropping to your knees, said Mom. I
knew he did. They knew he's gonne. They just don't
do the if they don't, you know. This is when
someone did. I assumed that it had to be some
type of auto accident because Corney was always known for
texting and driving. I remember my husband, Brent, driving our
(15:18):
families to Illinois Masonic Hospital. My mom, Courtney's sisters, my aunt,
we were all there. We rolled in our town and
Country minivan and it was in the middle of the
night and I don't even recall any other cars being
on the road. Right away, the staff wanted to take
(15:46):
us to the family room, but I knew. I knew
what the family room was. That's when they tell you
that your kid is dead. And I didn't want to go.
They sent in this nurse, a very kind nurse. She
(16:08):
stayed with me, she held my hand to try to
keep me calm. I had no idea then how important
she would become to my investigation. That's when the doctor
came out and told us the news, you know that
(16:29):
he had died from a gunshot wound, and we were like, well,
why why, what do you mean a gunshot wound? Who
shot him? When the doctor said Courtney was shot, that
was like an unbelievable We didn't hear anything else. Everybody
drops to the floor, screaming, yelling okay, oh no, no, no,
(16:52):
because that was the last thing that we would think
Courtney would be involved in it, any form of shooting,
because he was not that type of individual, okay, and
he was a non violent person. He would really know
he would not be involved in anyone there would him guns.
The doctor told us that when Corney arrived, they opened
(17:15):
up his chest to try to save him. I've been
at the hospital for over an hour and I still
hadn't seen my son, and you know, as a mother,
you want to have that confirmation that this is indeed
your child. They told me I couldn't see him until
(17:38):
detectives got there, and I told him, I said, well,
I'm gonna tell you right now. If I can't see
my son, I'm gonna tear this whole hospital up. They
finally let us see Courtney. He was on a hospital
bed and the trauma unit m. After a few moments,
(18:03):
I asked everyone to leave because I had to be
with him. I had to be with him by myself.
I began to touch him. His body was still warm.
I caressed his face and kissed his forehead, and I
(18:27):
told him I was sick. I'm sorry I wasn't there
for you when you needed me the most. And I
walked out of the room. And then it really hit me.
The Corney was gone, and I just collapsed. Yeah. Corney's
(19:05):
friends and our extended family were piling into the hospital
waiting room. I remember two detectives coming in. They were
white and middle aged, and they told us what they knew.
They said Corney was shot in his car and drove
himself to the police station. Corney jumped out of his
(19:26):
car and flagged down an officer for help, but the
car was still moving, so the officer told him to
put it in park. So Corney hopped back into the
car and put the car in park. And then they
said that Corney ran over to the officer again and
grabbed his arm and said I've been shot before collapsing.
(19:57):
Then came the moment when felt something more than grief.
I felt suspicious. See the detective said they wanted to
ask me some questions, and their first one they asked
me if Courtney was the owner of the BMW. Remember
(20:21):
when I told you that Corney had to get a
co signer for the car, Christian Hernandez. Christian's name was
actually on the registration and not Cortney's. Courtney had been
stopped before because of this, so when the police asked
me if he was the real owner of the car,
I started to think maybe this was a police stop
(20:41):
gone wrong, you know, like Philando Castile up in Minnesota.
Maybe the police stopped him after running his plates and
seeing a black man driving a car registered in a
Hispanics man's name. The first thing that Courtney's friends did
(21:17):
is went looking for clues. They went to Belmont Craigan,
the neighborhood where Courtney was shot. They saw skid marks
and some broken glass on this corner near Catholic Church.
They scooped up the glass and talked to a neighbor
who said she heard gunshots. We put up reward posters
all over the neighborhood so we would with the flyers
(21:41):
and and we were on the radio, which anybody that
can help us get injured. First, we offered a five
thousand dollar reward, then a six thousand, then a sixty
six hundred. In the end we put up ten thousand dollars,
but we got no answers. We try to keep Courtney
(22:05):
story alive in the news. Here I am on a
local show called Jamaica Fun. Give us a little background
of Courtney. What what? What did Courtney do? Corney? Was?
I seen your sales rep and World Ventures travel industry
and he was a rising member of the of the
Chicagoland area, so he had I wasn't just trying to
(22:26):
solve his case. I was also fighting to protect his name.
Police Copeland was not a gang member. They can only
guess right now why he was shot. He graduated. Police
said he wasn't a game member. Why was that even
a question? I had to do everything I could to
protect his image. When reporters asked to use photos of him,
(22:47):
I made sure he looked his best four. I just
don't on the narrative to be negative about myself. I couldn't.
He does he was not that that's my spear. Okay,
she preferre We used the picture of him in the
tux that's on his Facebook page. Ever did this to us?
Uh as, did you turn yourself ins that you ask
(23:11):
for forgiveness from God? Looking back at my face on
TV that night he died, It's literally hard to believe
that was even me. How many against to die, how
many black children die Chicago. I remember being in so
(23:32):
much pain, but I needed to find answers. That was
the only way I knew how to keep going. A
few people did come forward with tips. One guy actually
told me he was driving by the police station and
saw Courtney on the ground with cops just standing around him.
(23:56):
This bystander basically told me when he looked at the scene,
he felt that the police were doing something to him.
And then when I began to press him, trying to
get more information, and that's when he was like, you know,
I don't really want to get involved. You know, you
don't understand the police around here. They'll come after me.
(24:18):
And then he finally told me, he was like, look,
I have children and I can't risk my life to
basically tell you what I saw. Then there was a
toe truck driver. He took a video. It's hard to
make out, but it looks like Courtney is laying on
(24:40):
the ground outside the police station. The lights are flashing
and no one is helping him. One of Courtney's friends,
a world venture guy named June, says he got in
touch with the toe truck driver I mean history, says
his theory was that the police didn't That was That's
the first thing that came out his mind. That's what
(25:00):
he's been saying since the beginning. What the police told
me is that they did everything they could to save him.
But you know what, it just wasn't adding up. So
I said to myself, I just got to bury my
baby and lay him the rest, and then I'll find
out what really happened. I needed some strength, so I
(25:28):
turned to Courtney the only way I could. Any obstacle
you know that you're going through with in your life today,
Understand that God would never put you through anything that
you cannot handle. The reason why they call it a
past is because you already went through. Remember how I
told you that. Since Courtney's death, I go through his phone.
Guess how he had me listed uh with three exclamation
(25:49):
points as an oh my mom's calling. And you know what,
he was right to be afraid, because when I get
onto something, I don't let up. And I'm putting the
police on blast right now. I will find out the
truth of what happened to my son, and when I do,
(26:10):
the whole world will know it. Every bid by every day,
No Bide, Deny Somebody is a co production of The
(26:31):
Invisible Institute, The Intercept, Topic Studios and I Heart Radio
in association with Tenderfoot TV. I'm chaparral Wells. This podcast
is produced by Alison Flowers and Bill Heally. Sarah Geye
is our story editor. Ellen Glover is our associate producer
(26:51):
for The Invisible Institute. Jamie Calvin is executive producer for
Topic Studios. Maria Zuckerman, Christie Gressman and Leeds al Malad
are executive producers. Special thanks to Lizzie Jacobs for The Intercept.
Roger Hodge, Deputy Editor, is supervising producer. Sound designed by
Carl Scott and Bart Warshaw. Michael Raphael is our mixed engineer.
(27:16):
Our theme song, Everybody Something Is by Chance the Rapper.
Original music for the podcast by Nate Fox of The
Social Experiment and Eric Butler. Additional reporting by Sam Steklow,
Annie When, Khari Blackburn, Raje Sinclair, Henry Adams, Matilda Voyad,
Dana Roso's Kellerher Frances McDonald, Diana Archmagian, Maddie Anderson, Andrew
(27:42):
Fan and risa Apantaku. Translation support by Benny Hernandez Ocampo
and Emma Perez. Fact checking by Noah Are Jenny Special
thanks to Chris Rasmussen, Bennett Epstein, Matt Topic, David bralow In,
Julie Wolf. We want to hear from you. Email us
(28:03):
at info at somebody podcast dot com or leave us
a voicemail at seven seven three to seven zero zero
one two one. To learn more about this case and
for links to additional materials, go to our show page
at somebody podcast dot com. You can also find a
(28:24):
list of everyone we want to think they're so many
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