When my son Courtney was twenty-one years old, he got a BMW convertible.

He loved that car like it was his girlfriend. He would talk to it like good morning, hello Bebe. 

COURTNEY: Buenos dias, Bebe. Buenos dias. Como estas, mi amor? (kissing sounds)

 The first time BeBe rolled into our driveway, it was late at night. 

SHAPEARL: Courtney in his drop-top BMW. It’s maroon…

Courtney had the music blasting all the way up.

SHAPEARL: You did it! You did it, Courtney!

It’s like a little block party you know in the middle of my driveway. 

He had the top down. It wasn’t even that hot outside but of course he had the top down. Oh it was a beautiful moment. And that was probably one of the most happiest moments I’ve seen him. 

POLICE: 2510 Robert. Just got flagged down at  Grand and Central, a gentleman just said he was shot.

OEMC: OK we’ll get EMS rolling to the 25th District. 

POLICE: Oh, ok, yeah send an ambulance right away.

But not even one year later….my son wound up with a bullet in his back outside a Chicago police station. 

WGN: And there are still so many unanswered questions about what led to the death of 22-year-old Courtney Copeland. 

NBC: Family members say Copeland was on his way to a friend’s house when he was shot through his car window. A bullet hit his back.

CBS: He managed to flag down a police car in front of the 25th 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. 

ABC: His mother’s heart tonight, left in pieces.

And then there’s the truth. 

SHAPEARL: I believe that not enough has been done to solve Courtney’s murder.

POLICE: What would you like done that I haven’t done?

SHAPEARL: I personally would have went back and re-interviewed everybody to make sure.

POLICE: Re-interviewed the police?

SHAPEARL: Oh absolutely

My name is Shapearl Wells. I’m Courtney Copeland’s mom. And this is Somebody.

THEME: “Everybody’s Something” by Chance the Rapper

Chicago police have one of the lowest murder solve 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.

But first let me tell you about my son. You need to know who he was in life. Because we are going to spend a lot of time talking about his death.

Courtney was born a day after my 21st birthday. On New Years Eve, 1993.

RENEE: And I just still remember him sleeping on my chest sometimes.

That’s my mom, Renee.

RENEE: And then his favorite thing was warm milk.  And he talked about that until an adult...“Grandma, I still remember the warm milk you would give me when I was a baby.” And I just thought that was so sweet.

SHAPEARL: What do you remember about the early years?

BRENT: He would have like little jokes and stuff.

Here’s my husband, Brent, Courtney’s father. He’s raised him since he was four years old.

BRENT: You know like in fact like the first joke he had told me, he was like what do you call stolen cheese? I said what? He said, “Nacho cheese.” I'm like ohhh. I’m like it was kind of corny but it was still funny at the same time. He had a million of those. 

SHAPEARL: Y’all both have cornball jokes. That's probably why y’all got along.

RICK: Next! 

Here he is goofing off with some of his friends.

RICK: Hey how you doing today? What’s your name?

COURTNEY: Courtney Copeland.

Courtney’s pretending to be a contestant on American Idol. He’s in seventh grade, right at that age where his voice is changing.

COURTNEY: Don’t make sense right now but it will...How’d it make you feel...How’d it make you feel…ohhhh

RICK: Congratulations, Courtney Copeland. You are going to....

COURTNEY: Hollywood, baby!

Courtney sure knew how to turn on the charm to get what he wanted… 

SHAPEARL: And Courtney was kind of a manipulator with you you know it was like uh, he’d ask me for $20 and then turn around and ask you for $20 dollars, and then he was asking Kim for $20 and now he got $60.

RENEE: He's got $60. That's how he would do it. And I wish I could do it for him now.

Courtney was energetic and outgoing, I mean he was so handsome - he had this caramel colored skin and the most incredible smile. 

He spent all his money — and I mean all his money — on food, clothes, haircuts and shoes.

COURTNEY: My mom just came back from Wisconsin. She bought me this hat. It say Gucci. Gucci boy!

After Courtney died, I went through his phone. 

COURTNEY: Look at Uncle Courtney...Oooh, your boy.

All those videos and photos and social media. It made me feel like he was still right there with me.

CHANCE: Really we called him Gucci in high school. I don't know if it was because he was flee or because he looked like Gucci Mane, but we called him Gucci. 

One of his friends was a kid named Chancellor Bennett. You might know this guy as Chance the Rapper.

CHANCE: But yeah I met Gucci when I was like in summer school. You know what I’m saying? Not to, like, I hope that that doesn't have like a negative connotation and stuff, but like I mean I was in summer school and everybody goes to summer school…. He would freestyle with me...We would kick it after school and stuff and just be rapping walking down the street and beatboxing and stuff like that.

Courtney would always tell me, “Mom, this guy is gonna be huge!”

CHANCE: That was like a thing at the time, like I was passing out CDs, I was burning CDs and standing outside of Columbia. He'd be standing out there with me, like he'd take CDs from me 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 helped them win a city championship. 

When he was 17 or 18, he got a tattoo of a basketball across his chest and it says Ball Till 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 momma don’t you?’ Then he got more tattoos, including one that says Momma’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 a janitor, and at Dunkin Donuts. 

COURTNEY: Gotta get ready for work! Oh my God! Put on 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 WorldVentures. Courtney’s job was to sign up members for discount vacations all over the world. Courtney was determined to go to the top.

RENEE: And that's when I really saw Courtney turning into a man. 

That’s my mom again…

RENEE: ...Because of his positive mental attitude that he developed. His change of thinking, how people treated him. He became more of a leader now.

In just one year, Courtney signed up so many people, the company helped him lease that BMW as a bonus.

WINGS N WHEELS: It is WorldVentures Wings and Wheels. Step 1: Get your wings. Step 2: Get your wheels…

Courtney asked me if I would sign for the car for him and I told him ‘no way.’ If he wanted to get someone else to help him, that was 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 Shawn who’s a rapper used it in his music video…

STROKATHADON: I’m addicted to the money...I’m addicted to these hoes…I’m addicted to this cash, all I know, count that dough...

You know it was just like a typical rap video. Sexy girls dancing all around and the guys and money.

Courtney’s in the video too.

Courtney was living the high life. Just a few months before he died, he went on a trip to Cancun. 

COURTNEY: Look at this! Ha! ...Eh, I’m supposed to be at Dunkin’ Donuts right now…But psych! I did something different. I said yes. I stay consistent. I work hard…

I mean, this was a trip of a lifetime. He was just like he was on top of the world. 

He did the Macarena in the hotel lobby…He went scuba diving...and rode a jet ski...

He was doing really, really well, getting close to moving out of my basement, and moving in with some friends.

Here’s what I know about the last day of my son’s life. Courtney 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...

TRUMP: Look at those hands. Are they small hands?

While I was watching that, Courtney was giving a presentation for WorldVentures. 

Around midnight, Courtney swung by Paisans, his favorite pizza place. It’s a couple blocks from our house in Cicero, just outside of Chicago. And he ran into his friend Chris.

CHRIS: The next day we were supposed to go on a little road trip. We were gonna be there for the weekend, so we were preparing everything. 

Courtney showed Chris this book he was reading. It was called “Think and Grow Rich.” He was already on Chapter 3.

CHRIS: I always tell people this story, ‘cause it felt weird. ‘Cause he left the parking lot right in front of Paisans and I didn't even get in my car yet. You know usually when I say bye to someone, I'll get in my car and I'll go. But I stood outside and I’m like, man, that's crazy, you know, he hit the bonus with 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 coworker he was dating. And he was heading to see her. 

I replayed this night so many times in my head. I wish I had text 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.

COURTNEY: I’m excited Man, reason why is because you know I understand is that I’m God’s 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 peacoat. He looks so happy and hopeful.

COURTNEY: And the things that I want and I have obtained in my life I can do them. I just got to believe in myself.

His name on Snapchat was “bornleader34”. Thirty-four was Courtney’s favorite number. And the night he died was March fourth. 3-4.

An hour after he posted on Snapchat, my son was being rushed to the hospital.

KEITH: I am calling because I just recieved a patient here to our ER.

The hospital called the police in Cicero where I live. 

MICHELLE: And what’s the name of this gentleman? 

KEITH: His name is Courtney Copeland. C-O-P-E-L-A-N-D

MICHELLE: And you want his mom advised that he is in the hospital? 

KEITH: Yes…He was actually en route to I guess a police station nearby because he had been shot and then he came in by ambulance. I don't know if you want to tell her what the nature of the injury is yet?

MICHELLE: Nah probably not. Probably don't wanna...just that he's injured in the hospital.

KEITH: Yeah.

A little after two o’clock in the morning, the Cicero Police came bamming on our door.

When I opened the door, he asked me did I know a Courtney Copeland? I was already thinking that this is bad.

The police told us that Courtney was in the hospital in Chicago. And that’s it. 

RENEE: And at that point Shapearl I remember you dropping to your knees. You said mom, I know he's dead. I know he's gone. They just don't do this. You know, this is when someone's dead.

I assumed that it had to be some type of auto accident because Courtney was always known for texting and driving.

I remember my husband, Brent, driving our family to Illinois Masonic Hospital. My mom, Courtney’s sisters, my aunt, we were all there. We rode in our Town & Country minivan. And it was 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 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 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.

BRENT: That's when the doctor came out and told us the news, you know, that he had died from a gunshot wound. And we were like, “What do you mean a gunshot wound? Who shot him?”

RENEE: When the doctor said Courtney was shot, that was like an unbelievable, we didn't hear anything else. Cause everybody drops to the floor screaming yelling, ok, oh no, oh no, oh no cause that was the last thing that we would think Courtney would be involved in is any form of shooting because he was not that type of individual, ok. He was a nonviolent person, he would not be involved in anyone who had guns.

The doctor told us that, when Courtney arrived, they’d opened up his chest to try and save him.

I’d 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 detectives got there. And I told them. I said, "Well, I'm gonna tell you right now, if I can't see my son, I'm going to tear this whole hospital up.”

They finally let us see Courtney. He was on a hospital bed. In the trauma unit. After a few moments, I asked everyone to leave. Cuz 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 told him, 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 that Courtney was gone.

I just collapsed.

Courtney's friends and our extended family were piling into the hospital waiting room.

I remember two detectives came in. They were white, and middle-aged and they told us what they knew. 

They said Courtney was shot in his car...and drove himself to the police station…

Courtney jumped out of his car and flagged down an officer for help.

But the car was still moving so the officer told him to put the car in park. So Courtney hopped back in the car and put the car in park. 

And then they said that Courtney ran over to the officer again, and grabbed his arm and said, “I’ve been shot,” before collapsing.

Then came the moment when I felt something more than grief.

I felt suspicious. 

See, the detectives said they wanted to ask ME some questions. 

And their first one? 

They asked me if Courtney was the OWNER of the BMW.

Remember, when I told you that Courtney had to get a cosigner for the car. Christian Hernandez. Christian’s name was actually on the registration, and not Courtney’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 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 Hispanic man’s name.

The first thing that Courtney’s friends did is went looking for clues. They went to Belmont Cragin, the neighborhood where Courtney was shot. They saw skid marks and some broken glass on this corner, near a 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.

RENEE: So we went with the flyers and we were on the radio. Just anybody that can help us get answers.

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 tried to keep Courtney’s story alive in the news. Here I am on a local show called Jamaica Funk...

HOST: Give us a little background of Courtney, what did Courtney do? 

SHAPEARL: Courtney was a senior sales rep at World Ventures travel industry. And he was a rising member of the Chicagoland area.

I wasn’t just trying to solve his case. I was also fighting to protect his name.

CBS: Police say Copeland was not a gang member. They can only guess right now why he was shot. He graduated from Jones College Prep. Played on the basketball team...

Police say he wasn’t a gang 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, I made sure he looked his best.

SHAPEARL: I just don't want the narrative to be negative about my son, because he was not that and that's my biggest fear. 

REPORTER: OK, so you prefer we use the picture of him in the tux that's on his Facebook page.

ABC: Whoever did this to my son, I ask that you turn yourself in. I ask that you ask 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.

ABC: How many kids have to die? How many black children have to die in Chicago? 

I remember being in so 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. 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.” 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 tow truck driver. He took a video. 

It’s hard to make out. But it looks like Courtney is laying on 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 tow truck driver.

JUNE: I mean his theory, the guy in the tow truck says his theory was that the police did it. That was, that’s the first thing that came out of his mind, that’s what 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 gotta bury my baby and lay him to rest and then I’ll find out what really happened.

I needed some strength, so I turned to Courtney the only way I could.

COURTNEY: Any obstacle that you are going within your life today, understand that God will never put you through anything that you cannot handle. The reason they call it the past is because you already went through it.

Remember how I told you that since Courtney’s death, I go through his phone? Guess how he had me listed. “Uhhh Ohhh!!!” With three exclamation points. As in, “Uh-oh, my mom’s calling”

And you know what? He was right to be afraid. Cause when I get on to 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, the whole world will know it.