Devonte Coppage, Who Died In St. Paul Over A $300 Drug Deal, Documented His Life On Facebook...

Facebook photo, used under First Amendment Fair Comment and Criticism, and public safety exceptions to copyright,

blog post by John Hoff

Devonte Coppage, who was named by this blog before any other media source as the victim of a failed drug deal in St. Paul, was like many other young urban individuals with extensive criminal records who die by homicidal violence or (on a different day, when somebody else gets the drop) commit homicidal violence; in that he extensively documented his life on Facebook.

So here we go again, and it gets old before it even starts...

In the photo above, Devonte (to the right) poses with a bottle that might contain Grey Goose, or it might contain water and it's only useful for posing in pictures, who knows? Nothing says class like leaning up against the peeling paint of a retaining wall with a bottle of Grey Goose, the preferred drink of homicide victims. (Sarcasm font) 

Devonte provided a one-word caption for this photo, as follows:

"Squad." 

To which I say:

"Car."

The photo above also was on Coppage's website, but obviously originated on a mugshot site. Young Coppage, now dead over a $300 marijuana transaction, proudly labeled his mug shot as follows:

"IMMA REAL HITTA LOL"

This photo, above, was labeled "Throwback Twin$."

I can't help but be reminded of an old Saturday Night Live skit where Phil Hartman, playing an abrasive Frank Sinatra who is running his own talk show, comments, "I got nothing. It's all clicks and pops." 

The photo above was not labeled. Coppage appears to be holding his nose and mouth in response to an odor. The photo above is obviously a cropped version of this photo, below.

Inevitably, I find pictures of MONEY on the Facebook pages of individuals like Coppage, but this photo has the distinction of being the LEAST amount of money I've seen photographed. At first glance, it appears to be THREE U.S. Dollars but look closely!

Oh!!! It's FOUR dollars.

Unknown why words are written on the bills. 

This mugshot was found on the page of Devonte Coppage, but it pictures Dwayne Freeman, who goes under his own name on Facebook. Freeman was apparently close to Coppage, because following the shooting Freeman changed his profile picture to an image of Coppage, as follows:

Back to Coppage's Facebook page...

He posted the following image showing his student ID and his pregnant baby mama in the background:

As a caption to this photo in January of 2013, exactly one year before he died over a minor drug deal in St. Paul, Coppage wrote the following declaration; the lengthiest thing I've seen on his Facebook page:

"Im a young black powerful minority, thats after every dolla im also following my dreams. Im doing this for my brothers who couldnt make it, "kee, phat phat, quisko and my Cuzzn pudda loc" most of all my first child Na'sere king Coppage i love life." 

The name "Kee" appears to allude to homicide victim Keontrell Govan. The "Phat Phat" may be homicide victim Anthony "Phat Phat" Titus. Unknown who "Quisko" refers to, but "Pudda Loc" is homicide victim Decari Antonio Starr. 

This image was on Coppage's Facebook page, but given the qualities of the photo (especially the neat lettering, correct spelling, and use of the word "money" instead of a dollar sign) I suspect it's one of those images floating around Facebook and was merely shared by Coppage. 

This image, above, was taken about the same time as the "Grey Goose" photo, based upon the identical attire. The lowness of the pants is impressive. Must make it difficult to run from somebody brandishing a weapon, though.

The image above, and photos taken at the same time of the same group, not only appear on the page of Devonte Coppage but a number of Facebook pages. The individuals are identified as (to the viewer's left of Coppage) Cece Pretty'Asz Govan and (to the immediate viewer's right of Coppage) Latrice Gorgess'Asx Jones and Jason Aed Jones.

The relationship of Cece Pretty'Asz Govan to murder victim Keontrell Govan was apparently that of a romantic couple, based upon a YouTube tribute video, click here. Her profile says "Missing MyKeontrell" on the "wallpaper" photo. She recently changed her profile picture to a cropped image (taken from the photo above) of herself with Coppage. 

It is commonly known Coppage died as the father of a small child by his girlfriend, known on Facebook as Kee Kee Dem Dollars. "Kee Kee" lists herself as being from Gary, Indiana but currently resides in Minneapolis. 

The image above shows Coppage with a baby, presumably his own baby since there are photos in the same series which appear to show the delivery of his child at the hospital with Coppage there and involved. In the photo above, Coppage may just be tired but I can't help but feel a distinct lack of excitement in regard to his duties as a father. 

To be completely fair, other photos show him providing affection to the child in question, but I am avoiding publishing further photos of the innocent baby except the somewhat indistinct image, above. 

As fate would have it, Coppage wasn't involved in the duties of fatherhood for very long before dying in a drug-deal-gone wrong.  

I offer this photo as a final commentary, of sorts.

But he wasn't here for long.