JNS BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Old Juvenile Charges Unearthed For Donquarius Copeland, Accused Of Murdering Rayjon Gomez, Age 13...

Copeland is in the rear, image is FB photo used under First Amendment Fair Comment and Criticism, blog post by John Hoff

MNCIS online court data can be a little flukey. Sometimes charges don't show up when you search the name of a defendant, but if you know the defendant's lawyer, and search THAT way, information about other charges pops up. Go figure.

Searching under "Bobby Joe Champion," who has acted in the past as an attorney for Donquarius Copeland, I sadly failed to turn up any info about the murder charges. This tells me Champion might not be Copeland's attorney for those charges. What I did turn up were some interesting old juvenile charges where Champion was Copeland's court appointed attorney...

JNS BLOG SUPER EXCLUSIVE: Insider Info About Donquarius Copeland, Accused Of Murder, From His Time At A Juvenile Facility...

Facebook image, Donquarius Copeland in the middle, used under First Amendment fair comment and criticism, blog post by John Hoff. 
The photos DO NOT show Joe Meeks or Kyreon Watkins. 

Prior to being locked up in Anoka County on charges of assault, prior to being indicted by a grand jury for allegedly gunning down 13-year-old Rayjon Gomez, a crime that went too long unsolved, Donquarius Copeland (middle, above) spent some time at a privately-managed facility that deals with troubled juveniles.

I will simply refer to the place as "The Facility." It's not in the Twin Cities...

Donquarius Copeland, Accused Of Killing 13-Year-Old Rayjon Gomez, Transferred To Hennepin County Jail, Attorney In Anoka County Assault Case Was BOBBY JOE CHAMPION...

Photo from Facebook profile of Donquarius Copeland, known on Facebook as "BD DQ YnT," used under First Amendment Fair Comment And Criticism, blog post by John Hoff


Donquarius Copeland, indicted by a grand jury on charges of killing 13-year-old Rayjon Gomez in a drive by shooting, was sitting in the Anoka County Jail on unrelated charges when police investigators connected him (allegedly) with the Gomez murder.

All this time, it appears, Copeland has been in Anoka County. However, yesterday Copeland was transferred to the Hennepin County Jail, according to info found today on the roster.

Copeland lists...

JNS BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Facebook Images, Social Connections Of Donquarius Copeland, Accused Of Killing Rayjon Gomez, Age 13...

Image from the Facebook profile of "Slipknot YnT," used under First Amendment fair comment and criticism, blog post by John Hoff

In my previous blog post, I went to the Facebook profile of accused child murderer Donquarius Copeland, known on facebook as BD DQ YnT.

Now I am systematically trying to find images and info about Donquarius Copeland by scrutinizing the profiles of his friends. Keep in mind Copeland allegedly murdered Rayjon Gomez on the same day Copeland started his Facebook profile.

One of Copeland's first Facebook friends was "Slipknot YnT." Currently, there is very little info on Slipknot's profile, but the profile picture shows Copeland's mugshot. Looking through Slipknot's photos...


I found the image above, which appears to have been taken at the same gathering as some images appearing on Donquarius Copeland's profile. Copeland is in the back, middle.

Rahmi Fck'n Lord is another profile that seems to figure prominently in Copeland's social circle. Rahmi does not make his photo albums public, however, he helpfully lists his interests as ALL I KNO IS SMOKE WEED ROB STEAL N SELL DOPE ROLL DICE GET MONEY N GANG BANG WIT MY FOLKS.

On the profile of Jazzy Bad Mcraven, I found this image, below, of Donquarius Copeland.

Copeland is on the far left. I can be very sure this image is Copeland, because it has been helpfully tagged with "BD DQ YnT." Same story with the photo below.

The image below doesn't have Copeland helpfully tagged, but somebody named Davarreo Allen commented on the photo: DQ I LOVE YOU LIL BRO

Donquarius can be identified in this photo, wearing the same hat and shirt as the previous photo. This is a "mirror image" photo. Note the backwards lettering on the hate.

And another from the same series.

Another Facebook friend of Donquarius Copeland is one Mashawn Moore. And here's where things get tricky. One of Moore's albums contains a photo of Rayjon Gomez, the (alleged) victim of Donquarius Copeland. It's a photo I've published before here on Johnny Northside Dot Com, but here it is, again, below.

Several people commented on the photo in Moore's album. One commenter was Chief Chuck Got-Hoess Smith, who wrote, "Look at my nigga rayjon rip n look even got on the express cardigan I gave you shit fukked up these days rip see you when ah get there."

So it seems likely Donquarius Copeland and Rayjon Gomez shared some kind of social connection...knew people in common. But what is the connection?

One helpful thing about Facebook is that you can designate other profiles as members of your family. Donquarius Copeland says his brother is a guy whose Facebook name is KB Stayblowin Loud. Right after his own name, KB notes "RIP Quantell Braxton," and provides a link to a page for Quantell under his "Likes."

Braxton was a 14-year-old gunned down in North Minneapolis, click here for details.

So suddenly the senseless killing of 13-year-old Rayjon Gomez, while still senseless, starts to make sense. Was Rayjon killed as some kind of retaliation for the death of Braxton? Because here we have the brother of Donquarius Copeland prominently displaying the RIP page for Braxton, and then Copeland (allegedly) shoots Gomez, who is very nearly the same age.

By the way, check out the cover photo for KB Stayblowin Loud:

This is why decent people want North Minneapolis "inconvenience stores" to stop selling Swisher Sweet brand blunts.

Here's one of the cover photos from Savage Alwaysthuggin Taylor, listed by Donquarius as his cousin.

I believe Taylor is the individual on the far left smoking a blunt.

Donquarius Copeland, who was known on Facebook (k/o/f) as BD DQ YnT, wasn't extremely active in the world of social networking.

Yes, he made and accepted a number of friend requests, but he had few conversations on Facebook, and posted only a handful of photos there. A handful of people posted photos featuring him. I've found a few photos that MIGHT be Donquarius Copeland, but was unable to make positive identification. If there's a treasure trove of Copeland photos and FB conversations out there...I haven't found it, yet.

But as thin as the documentation is, it raises new and interesting questions:

What's up with all the University of Minnesota gopher apparel? Who are these OTHER folks and do any of them know anything about the Gomez killing? What is the actual connection between Copeland and Gomez? Why does somebody create a Facebook profile the day he (allegedly) commits a murder?

And what of this interesting connection to 14-year-old murder victim Quantell Braxton?

All I can do is keep digging.

JNS BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Checking Out The Facebook Profile Of Accused Child Murderer Donquarius Copeland...

Facebook profile picture, from profile of "BD DQ YnT," known to be Donquarius Copeland, used under First Amendment fair comment and criticism. Donquarius is in the middle. 

Donquarius Copeland, who is accused of gunning down 13-year-old Rayjon Gomez, is on Facebook.

Incredibly, Copeland started his Facebook profile the same day Gomez was murdered. You just have to shake your head and wonder about that. Did Copeland have a long list of things to do that day, and he accomplished each thing, one by one?

Start up my Facebook profile. Check.

Hang out with my homies. Check.

Gun down a young boy on a bike. Check.

One of my amazingly well-informed anonymous commenters dropped me a little thread of information and that was all I needed to unravel the sweater. Copeland started his Facebook profile on August 24, 2011, at 1:12 AM.

His first message: "Just got a Facebook add mee." (Sic)

Rayjon Gomez was killed that same day, about 9 PM in the evening according to a statement released by the 4th Precinct, click here and god bless the 4th Precinct.

Interestingly, at least one mainstream media source...


...stated the date was August 27. The article, click here, has not been corrected even though Rayjon's sister, Bianca, submitted a comment on the article pointing out the error.

Like so many young people who appear to be living an "alternative thug lifestyle," Donquarius doesn't use his real name on Facebook. Instead, he goes by "BD DQ YnT."

"DQ" is clearly short for "Donquarius." It's not clear what "BD" stands for, probably some gang crap like "Big Dog." The letters "YnT" are commonly understood to mean "Young 'n' Thuggin" when the "n" is uncapitalized. (Otherwise it means "Why not?")

On more than one occasion, Donquarius refers to a group that includes the label "gunplay."

1.) On August 29, 1:20 AM, he wrote, "Shits crazy niggas is not real dats why I love my.team gunplay, y.n.t,n blacc Minn free my circle" (Sic)

2.) On August 31, 12:15 PM, "Where is my gunplay shawtyzz at what we on stupidzzzzz."

3.) A short while later, at 2:15 PM, "Ha #where is da fun at can I get friends me and my gunplay niggas."

4. On September 2, at 3:26 AM (some late hours this guy keeps!) he wrote, "Me an rahmi at dennys early where da gunplay shawtyzz free p.geek stupidzzzzz."

Other information about Donquarius can be gleaned from his "FB," but he isn't very prolific and, well, now he's in jail. All the same, some of his Facebook connections are highly revealing, especially friends he added early and the young woman with whom he claims to be "in a domestic partnership." Some of the first friends added were Slipknot YnT, Quis StayMokin Stupidz, and Savage AlwaysThuggin Taylor. "Slipknot" is mentioned in more than one post as Donquarius tries to rally friends to hang out with him. Taylor is listed as a "brother" under "family members."

A friend that's added later is J Shootemup Blood. But there is an amazing LACK of anything on the "wall" of Blood's Facebook profile. In fact, in the last couple of weeks as I've been looking into these profiles, stuff has been disappearing at a rapid rate. But the profile of Donquarius is frozen in time as he cools his heels in jail.

He didn't upload many pictures, but here are a few.

Donquarius is to the right. Unknown what the hand signs mean, but I strongly suspect it doesn't refer to a sports team.

Always, the hand signs. This photo was uploaded the day after Rayjon Gomez was killed.

In the photo above, accused child murderer Donquarius Copeland (far left) and his homies bring disgrace to University of Minnesota "Golden Gophers" apparel. My gopher blood boils with shame, albeit not for the first time.

Moving on from that...

Donquarius claims to be "in a domestic partnership" with a young woman whose Facebook name I am not yet publishing. On her profile, this young woman claims to have worked at Abercrombie & Fitch and to have attended Robbinsdale Cooper Senior High School. Donquarius is listed among her friends.

The young woman likes tattoos and has some very interesting photos of herself smoking an unidentified substance. And quite a bit of stuff disappeared off her profile, recently, which seemed connected to the shocking arrest of Donquarius Copeland. However, under "interested in" she currently lists "women." The connection between Donquarius and this woman is unclear and, furthermore, if she's trying to cut this loser loose I don't see any reason to highlight past connections too much.

More information about Donquarius Copeland is, I am sure, somewhere in his network of Facebook friends.

And I'm seeking it out.

Interesting Blog Coincidence With "Don Quarius Copeland" (Is This The Alleged Ray'Jon Gomez Shooter Or Not?)

Photo by Hawthorne Hawkman, blog post by John Hoff


So I was doing that thing I do...feeding off leads in the mainstream media, searching nooks and crannies of the internet to add more information to public discourse about the arrest of an alleged shooter in the Ray'Jon Gomez murder. Naturally, the recent first degree murder charges against Donqauris Davon Copeland are highly interesting to me.

Could I find this guy's Facebook, I wondered? And perhaps discover a treasure trove of photographs depicting god-knows-what?

So I started searching under his full name...nothing but dozens of news stories about his arrest.

Full name, middle initial...same thing.

First and last name, no middle initial.

Huh. Got a hit on...my own blog? What the heck?

I wondered to myself: Did "Donquarius Copeland" appear in some kind of blog posting prior to his arrest? So I clicked on the link to my very own blog and was amazed to discover...



The name "Don Quarius Copeland" (note the space) had appeared in a story about one of the all-too-common "treeside memorials" that spring up in my North Minneapolis neighborhood, and then often (not every time) turn soggy and trashy.

So here is a link to the story, which was actually written by the Hawthorne Hawkman, click here. The intrepid Hawkman was wondering, "Who is Todd Copeland?" (The man named in the curbside memorial)

The information about "Don Quarius Copeland" doesn't come from Hawkman, however. It comes from a blog commenter who used to be very active on my blog, La Vie En Rose, who wrote as follows:

----------------------------------------------------
Took me two seconds with Google.

Little Todd" Copeland, 9, and a pal decided Tuesday that they liked each other's trick bicycles so much that they'd swap. But when their fathers heard about the trade, one didn't like it.

A fight ensued Wednesday night. When it ended, Little Todd's dad, Todd A. Copeland, 28, was dead and a friend had been shot in the arm outside a duplex in the 2900 block of N. 4th St. in Minneapolis' Hawthorne neighborhood.

About noon Thursday, police arrested a 30-year-old man in connection with the shooting. The suspect is a friend of the other father.

Details are still unfolding, but witnesses and police gave this account:

Copeland and his older brother, Michael, 30, were going to talk to other's boy father, who was unhappy that his son's blue trick bike with mag wheels had been traded for a black one that Copeland had put together in his back yard.

Before they met up with the other father, another neighborhood boy told them that Little Todd (whose real name is Don Quarius Copeland) and his friend had settled things.

So Todd Copeland and his brother went to the duplex, and Mike Copeland said that when he left about 8:30 p.m., his brother was drinking beer with friends, including Carlos DeFrance, 18.

A short time later, the other boy's father and his friend knocked on the door of the duplex. When Copeland came out, the father punched him and knocked him down. Copeland got up and chased the father into the street. DeFrance followed.

When the other father's friend pulled a gun, DeFrance and Copeland ran for the house. DeFrance was shot in the arm and was recuperating at home Thursday. Copeland was shot in the neck, side and chest.

In the upstairs unit of the duplex, Tina Kelm, 36, was putting her 1-year-old to bed when she heard shots and called police. Her brother, Joe DeMars, said he heard about four shots.

I could only find it via Google Cache: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:jceM8o8prg0J:www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php%3Ft%3D8876+todd+copeland+minneapolis&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
-------------------------
(End of La Vie En Rose quote)

Of course, Ray'Jon Gomez was slain while riding his bike. Interesting coincidence with the kid bikes. Also, note the age of this "Don Quarius Copeland" in the story. He's 9 years old and known as "Little Todd." Donquarius Devon Copeland, arrested in the Ray'Jon Gomez shooting, is only 17 years old.

At this point, I don't have smoking gun proof that "Don Quarius Copeland," the 9-year-old in this story, is one and the same with Donquarius Devon Copeland," the 17-year-old charged with first degree murder.

But the coincidence being so eerie...

I put such facts as I have before my readers to scrutinize.