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.

Who Was Todd A. Copeland?

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

Earlier this week, I was driving through Hawthorne, when I saw yet another makeshift memorial. This one was for a Todd A. Copeland, a name that was not familiar to me.

But what initially made me pull over to look for more details was...

...the location. The memorial is located just north of 29th Ave N and 4th St N, off of Farview Park. I've been traveling a bit, for my grandmother's funeral and my younger brother's high school graduation, so I thought I might have missed the news of a recent homicide near the park and the EcoVillage.

Still, I've done various Google searches and can't seem to find anything. I've asked around and nobody seems to know who this guy was. Whether he died as a victim of a crime or not, it's clear his loss is mourned. So I want to know: who was this guy?

My position on the makeshift memorials remains the same, however. If they are put up at all, then after a period of time (maybe a week, certainly not much longer), they ought to come down - UNLESS the owner of the property gives their consent. In this case, the memorial sits in front of a vacant house, meaning its unlikely that the owner consents or will maintain it - evidenced by the broken bottles at the foot of the tree.

Furthermore, if Copeland was not the victim of a homicide, then that is yet another reason the makeshift memorial ought to come down quickly. I'm surely not the only one who drove past and made that assumption. We've got enough problems with the perception of north Minneapolis violent crime. We certainly don't need things like this adding to a negative image of our community.

So who was Todd Copeland?