Speaker 1: Okay, hi everyone, this is Allison Flowers from the Invisible Institute.
Speaker 1: Before we jump in, we have some big news to share.
Speaker 1: After hearing chaparol story and are reporting, the City of
Speaker 1: Chicago's Office of the Inspector General has decided to open
Speaker 1: an official investigation. They want to know exactly what happened
Speaker 1: in Courtney's case. The Inspector General's Office is an independent
Speaker 1: watchdog agency that oversees city government. It's a powerful and
Speaker 1: important agency, so their investigations can take a long time,
Speaker 1: but they can also lead to real change. Their job
Speaker 1: is to root out corruption and uncover misconduct among government
Speaker 1: officials and sometimes the police. Depending on their findings, they
Speaker 1: can recommend a change in rules or even disciplinary action.
Speaker 1: Chaprol is hopeful that the Inspector General can uncover even
Speaker 1: more about the final moments of her son's life. And
Speaker 1: another quick update, there's a new teaching guide for the podcast.
Speaker 1: You can find it online at Invisible Dot Institute slash
Speaker 1: teach dash somebody with schools mostly online this year. It's
Speaker 1: a great way to engage high school students in conversations
Speaker 1: around race and policing. Now our episode, we still have
Speaker 1: some a few more books backs left. We have about
Speaker 1: sanmore left. You did ticket. Every year since Courtney died,
Speaker 1: Chapol hosts a free book bag party through the Foundation
Speaker 1: in his name. It's a big back to school community event.
Speaker 1: There's always a ton of food, music, and some of
Speaker 1: Courtney's friends give free haircuts to kids. It's all beautiful.
Speaker 1: I love a great day. But this year's book bag
Speaker 1: giveaway was a lot to friend Facebook, Facebook, Facebook, Fewer people,
Speaker 1: quieter spaced out here, chaparl on Facebook Life. She's a
Speaker 1: little muffled because she's wearing a mask. Are you there.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I'm getting everybody today. We're giving away bookbag
Speaker 1: because we have hundreds of bookbags left. We are also
Speaker 1: giving away free haircuts today, so I want to turn
Speaker 1: around so you can see they have some availability. We're
Speaker 1: taking haircuts two at a time because of COVID, but
Speaker 1: we do have chaperl and the Foundation still pulled it
Speaker 1: off and gave away three hundred book bags this year,
Speaker 1: even with schools not reopening full time in the pandemic.
Speaker 1: It was a bittersweet start to the school season. Courtney's
Speaker 1: own book bag ended up being a recurring theme over
Speaker 1: the three years at the Invisible Institute investigated the case
Speaker 1: with Chaparl. So today we're going to dive into that
Speaker 1: Lebron James book bag and why it was actually pretty
Speaker 1: important understanding what happened to Courtney. And then we're going
Speaker 1: to remember one of Courtney's best friends who was featured
Speaker 1: in the podcast, Steve Otero, Courtney's book Bag. It's become
Speaker 1: very special to Chaparl since Courtney's death. When we recorded
Speaker 1: our final episode of the podcast, Chaparral brought Courtney's book
Speaker 1: back to the studio just to be among us. And
Speaker 1: that book bag is the reason why for a long time,
Speaker 1: Chapel didn't think Courtney died in an attempted robbery. The
Speaker 1: reason why that theory didn't pay for me as far
Speaker 1: as a car jack is because nothing was taken from Courtney.
Speaker 1: He had a cell phone, he had his wallet, his
Speaker 1: book bag, his iPad, his vehicle, all of that was
Speaker 1: still in the car. Courtney as a person was very
Speaker 1: careful with his surrounding. If he felt like uneasy about
Speaker 1: a situation, he would actually leave. So whatever happened to
Speaker 1: Courtney that night, it was something that he was blind
Speaker 1: aside by. Inside Courtney's book bag, was his iPad, and
Speaker 1: even though the police report clearly listed the iPad as
Speaker 1: being inside the BMW, it was missing. When Chaparll got
Speaker 1: the car back from the impound lot, I x CPD
Speaker 1: about his iPad. They said that they didn't they didn't
Speaker 1: have the iPad and they never saw iPad. I said,
Speaker 1: did you check the iPad to see if your head
Speaker 1: and he captured anything. I said, because you know, iPads
Speaker 1: do have cameras on them. They said, we have too much.
Speaker 1: We don't have space to catalog everything. I said, okay,
Speaker 1: this is the type of things when I say inconsistencies
Speaker 1: that bother me. So this is why I have little
Speaker 1: to no trust in what they're saying. That iPad and
Speaker 1: the book bag was a major rabbit hole. Chapelle and
Speaker 1: I went down for a long time. We tried that
Speaker 1: finder iPad feature and it didn't work. We knew. The
Speaker 1: officers on scene after Courtney pulled up to the station
Speaker 1: and collapsed, went through his book bag because that's where
Speaker 1: he kept his I D and Courtney's BMW co signer
Speaker 1: Christian Hernandez told us that when he went to the
Speaker 1: impound lot to get the car, the book bag was
Speaker 1: dumped out, which was unusual because Courtney kept his car
Speaker 1: pretty clean. When as soon as I walk in there,
Speaker 1: the car was a mess. That was like somebody was
Speaker 1: going through it because his jeans were everywhere. Trip to
Speaker 1: me grabbed the book bag at his belongings. His book
Speaker 1: back was wide open um if he were parking, how
Speaker 1: would we tend to get out of the car, what
Speaker 1: steps should we take? Would you reach for anything or
Speaker 1: do anything? Like? In general, he's getting out of the car,
Speaker 1: who reached for his book back? It will always be
Speaker 1: in the back seat, always somewhere in the back seat,
Speaker 1: usually on the seats on the floor. We heard the
Speaker 1: same thing from Alma, the coworker Courtney was going to
Speaker 1: see that night. It's a convertible, you know, it's a
Speaker 1: It's a little car for a big guy. So normally
Speaker 1: he would get out of his car, pull the seat forward,
Speaker 1: and then reach into the back to get his backpack.
Speaker 1: He would never leave his backpack in the car. He
Speaker 1: would always take it with him. I think it's like
Speaker 1: the weight of it, the weight of the backpack, like
Speaker 1: he felt. I guess like he wasn't alone. When Alma
Speaker 1: got home from the hospital the morning, Courtney died. She said,
Speaker 1: everything became clear what must have happened. When she saw
Speaker 1: the skid marks by the church where he usually parked.
Speaker 1: Everything started to make sense. I feel like he parked,
Speaker 1: he was getting out of his car. Maybe he was
Speaker 1: reaching for his backpack. That makes sense to me, you know,
Speaker 1: if he was shot in the back, I feel like
Speaker 1: he probably didn't see who shot him. When we spoke
Speaker 1: to a firearms forensic expert, he thought that Courtney was
Speaker 1: likely ducking out of the way when he saw danger coming.
Speaker 1: Based on the low height of the car and the
Speaker 1: angles someone would have had to shoot into the car.
Speaker 1: But Chaparral kind of agreed with Alma on this one car.
Speaker 1: It's just it's low, so it would have ended he
Speaker 1: was getting his back he was getting his bag out,
Speaker 1: and that would be all plausible, you know, after how
Speaker 1: he got shot in the back. And the tragic irony
Speaker 1: is that right as Courtney was probably reaching for that
Speaker 1: book bag, that familiar weight that made him feel so safe,
Speaker 1: he likely didn't realize the danger that was right there.
Speaker 1: Since the podcast aired, many of you from all over
Speaker 1: the world have left Chaparral such kind words on our
Speaker 1: voicemail and by email. Here's a few of Chaparral's favorite messages.
Speaker 1: I am just a single mom with two kids driving
Speaker 1: to Hilton Head left Virginia Beach early this morning, and
Speaker 1: I have to tell you that those episodes that I
Speaker 1: just lifted up to somebody podcast about Courtney Copeland less
Speaker 1: all of you here in Sport. When you talk to
Speaker 1: that cop my god, oh my god, those are the
Speaker 1: peabody to that episode. You are one badass. Okay. You
Speaker 1: have the same exact kind of shries that I know
Speaker 1: my mom would have for me. It's something like that
Speaker 1: happened to me. We're living in a horrible time, UM,
Speaker 1: where it is every day mnus and throwing our face
Speaker 1: to black and brown bodies do not matter at all,
Speaker 1: and it's very heartbreaking and discouraging to live in this space.
Speaker 1: By it, I tune in and listen every week. UM,
Speaker 1: I hope you find the answers that you're looking for.
Speaker 1: And I'm so grateful for this podcast and that you
Speaker 1: have a group of people that care enough to help
Speaker 1: you in this search. These messages have meant so much
Speaker 1: to Chaparral because not only did we release this podcast
Speaker 1: right at the beginning of the pandemic and and the
Speaker 1: podcast right as conversations around state violence. We're taking hold
Speaker 1: of us yet again. But Chaparral's family experienced another loss.
Speaker 1: One of Courtney's very best friends, Stephen O'to, died back
Speaker 1: in April. He was I'll tell you, this is the
Speaker 1: second hardest thing that I ever had to do. It
Speaker 1: was just such a beautiful day. The sun was shining.
Speaker 1: Steve the sister Kesha, she was crying. I'm like, what's wrong, Kesha,
Speaker 1: And she was, well, they're calling my sisters to tell
Speaker 1: me that Stephen passed away. When it finally hit me
Speaker 1: that Stephen was gone, heart re shattered in a million pieces.
Speaker 1: Courtney and Steve met his kids in cis Row and
Speaker 1: played baseball together. It was funny because Courney, ever since
Speaker 1: he was little, he was super chunky and like he
Speaker 1: was still run fast. He was still like be real active.
Speaker 1: You know. In our league, he would have a whole
Speaker 1: bunch of home runs. Steve was like a son to Chapel.
Speaker 1: In fact, she says now that it's like losing two sons.
Speaker 1: She used to take him in Courtney all over the
Speaker 1: place in her van for sports trips. She threw them
Speaker 1: in eighth grade graduation party. She took them to New York.
Speaker 1: Stephen told us their friendship really took root at a
Speaker 1: school dance party. It was crazy because we're like the
Speaker 1: highlight of it. We're getting all the girls. Everybody was
Speaker 1: getting crowded around us, and it was the Soldier Boy
Speaker 1: had that song, Soldier Boy, and we're doing the dance
Speaker 1: and stuff the dance many Superman. We talked to Steve
Speaker 1: extensively over the last few years. He was one of
Speaker 1: the people who immediately went to the crime scene to
Speaker 1: collect evidence after Courtney was shot. Steve saw skid marks
Speaker 1: and broken glass by the church, and he talked to
Speaker 1: a woman who lived at the corner and heard gunshots.
Speaker 1: In the early days of the case, he was right
Speaker 1: there with Chaparl investigating. We'd like to let this tape
Speaker 1: of Steve play out a little. Producer Bill Healy recorded
Speaker 1: Chaparl and him reminiscing back in Courtney. I had like
Speaker 1: he's like a leader man, and that guy always told
Speaker 1: me like he always tried to push me to do better.
Speaker 1: And what two years, three years, three years Corney hit
Speaker 1: the type of relationship with his friends, like he would
Speaker 1: do anything for his friends. And so with Stephen, he
Speaker 1: was like, my Stephen needs to come stay with us,
Speaker 1: and I was like stap. I was like, okay, well,
Speaker 1: what's cooling on with Stephen? So but he was already
Speaker 1: sneaking Stephen in for like three or four weeks before
Speaker 1: he told me that, and so I was like okay,
Speaker 1: and then he was like, yeah, he's going through something
Speaker 1: and I want to help him. I said, okay, we're
Speaker 1: gonna help Stephen. And so Stephen, he was like, Stephen,
Speaker 1: you gotta finish school, Stephen, you gotta do this. Let's
Speaker 1: go to church, and you know, you try to give
Speaker 1: them the same kind of guidance that you're giving your
Speaker 1: own children. It's just so happened that Stephen stayed with
Speaker 1: us for like, like he said, three years, just about
Speaker 1: all the high school, right, yeah, definitely. And at that
Speaker 1: point for like you know, accepted with the family. And
Speaker 1: then it was like something more to me, like more important.
Speaker 1: It was like a brotherhood that had a family, and
Speaker 1: I haven't already had a family. But you know, it's
Speaker 1: crazy are some people that they're not your family, but
Speaker 1: they care so much for you, you know, and they
Speaker 1: want to do see you do good, Stephen. You also
Speaker 1: got tattoo. Oh yes, I didn't really have that much
Speaker 1: money or whatever, but I went to the casino. I
Speaker 1: was like, man, if I win, it's for Cordney. That
Speaker 1: same week, I was able to win like five hundred bucks,
Speaker 1: and um, right away I went to go get a
Speaker 1: very detailed portrait tattoo of Corney and this picture he
Speaker 1: had actually took with his mom. I picked this one
Speaker 1: because he looked very happy. That's really nice. My guardian angel. Yes,
Speaker 1: his father passed away and he had on his arm
Speaker 1: that that's his guarden angel. I took that from him.
Speaker 1: I made him my guardian angel. Every time I felt
Speaker 1: bad or anything, I just looked down, you know, I
Speaker 1: looked down and I see him right there. So you
Speaker 1: guys got all these tattoos had my back. They tattoo
Speaker 1: buddy at first tattoo. We we got the same tattoo,
Speaker 1: matching tattoos. We got an art on our chest across
Speaker 1: our chest. You know, since we played a lot of
Speaker 1: basketball or whatever, we wrote ball to Life Fall and
Speaker 1: we used that model as like to go hard, you know,
Speaker 1: to go hard to to the very last of you.
Speaker 1: So you recently had a little baby girl. Yes. You know,
Speaker 1: after after what happened to Corny, I was like, man like,
Speaker 1: it made me think about my life. You know, I
Speaker 1: need to get serious and focus, and you know, I
Speaker 1: wanted to start my own family. So you know, I
Speaker 1: was able to just have my baby. She's four months,
Speaker 1: you know, and I know Corney would have been going
Speaker 1: crazy because it will be like, oh, uncle Theo, like
Speaker 1: that was his niece, you know, and it's something that
Speaker 1: I wished he could have seen. You know, that's one
Speaker 1: of the main reasons I decided to have a baby too,
Speaker 1: just to stay more focused and where about my family,
Speaker 1: you know, and sheished them because you never know when
Speaker 1: it's your last day. From the Somebody team, we'd like
Speaker 1: to in the O Tero's and all of Steve's family,
Speaker 1: our love, peace to you, everybody, sood everything. Nobody. Somebody
Speaker 1: is a co production of The Invisible Institute, Topic Studios,
Speaker 1: The Intercept, and I Heart Radio in association with Tenderfoot TV.
Speaker 1: This bonus episode was produced by me Alison Flowers, Rissa Apantaku,
Speaker 1: Bill Healy, and Sarah Geye for The Invisible Institute. Jamie
Speaker 1: Calvin is executive producer for Topic Studios. Christie Kressman is
Speaker 1: executive producer. Sound designed by Rissa open Taku. Our theme song,
Speaker 1: Everybody Something is by Chance the Rapper. Original music for
Speaker 1: this podcast by Eric Butler and Nate Fox of The
Speaker 1: Social Experiment. We'd love to hear from you. Email us
Speaker 1: at info at Somebody podcast dot com or leave us
Speaker 1: a voicemail at seven seven three two seven zero zero
Speaker 1: one to one. To learn more about this case and
Speaker 1: for links to additional materials, go to our show page
Speaker 1: at topic dot com. Slash Somebody Everybody, Somebody's everything, Nobody's nothing.
Speaker 1: Who