credibility Key prosecution witness Kenneth Copeland was the focus of a week of tortured testimony in the Atlanta racketeering trial of Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug.
Copeland, whose first court appearance last June led to Judge Oral Glanville being removed from the high-profile case, returned to the bench Monday under the supervision of Judge Paige Reese Whitaker, who replaced Glanville. Over several days of testimony, Copeland said “I don’t remember” hundreds of times and alleged that he repeatedly lied to investigators during a series of police station interviews following the January 2015 shooting death of Donovan “Nat” Thomas Jr.
Copeland’s refusal to repeat potentially incriminating details he told police during a particularly important June 2015 hearing prompted prosecutors to play key parts of that interview to the jury on Friday. In the taped meeting, Copeland claimed that his friend Damykion “Lil D” Garlington was with Young Thug, born Jeffrey Williams, on the night of the murder. Copeland told police that Garlington, an alleged member of Williams’ alleged Young Slime Life (YSL) gang, said Williams was in the group when YSL members first spotted Thomas at a barbershop on the night of the murder.
In a crucial — and highly controversial — section of the June 2015 interview that was shown to jurors through Copeland’s examination and opening statements, Copeland claims that Garlington gave him details of the minutes leading up to the shooting. Garlington allegedly said that Williams got out of a rented Infiniti and got into a Pontiac at a gas station shortly before a group of alleged YSL members returned to the barbershop in the Infiniti and opened fire on Thomas, according to Copeland’s taped interview, which he now denies.
In his opening statement last November, Williams’ defense attorney, Brian Steele, told the jury that Copeland was a career criminal and a self-confessed liar who likely killed Thomas himself and then tried to shift blame to avoid going back to prison. Copeland, an aspiring rapper also known as Woody, testified under an immunity agreement with prosecutors.
“This is an important witness. I spoke about him frankly. I said that Mr. Copeland killed Donovan Thomas,” Steele told Judge Whitaker Friday morning before the jury was seated.
When asked about the June 2015 police interview during his testimony Tuesday, Copeland said he lied to investigators about Thomas’s killing “to get them off me.” At one point, Copeland suggested on the witness stand that his recently deceased friend Travante “Threat” Turner may have been involved in Thomas’ death. He also claimed he was “obsessed” in 2015, then added, “I’m not doing drugs today.”
“Isn’t it true that Lil D told you that when they saw Knott, they switched cars?” Assistant District Attorney Simone Hilton asked, referring to Williams and other alleged YSL members who claimed to have been together at the gas station before Thomas was killed.
Copeland replied, “I don't remember anything about which I lied to investigators.” When specifically asked if he had told investigators that Garlington had told him that Williams “got into the Pontiac,” Copeland replied dramatically, “I do! I don't remember!”
In the recording played to the jury Friday, retired Atlanta police detective Lucky Gather is heard urging Copeland to cooperate with the investigation. “We need someone with firsthand knowledge to catch the main culprits. We want the big fish,” Gather said. At other points in the recording, Gather and two other detectives lose patience with Copeland and yell at him, telling him he’s “wasting” their time and that he’s about to go to jail.
In his testimony Tuesday, Copeland said he lied to police in June 2015 to avoid going back to prison. “I tell the investigators anything they want to hear. They want to hear something about Thag, so I’m going to sit here and flirt with them. I’m going to sit here and say he killed 19 people, and all sorts of things. I’m going to sit here and make him look like the worst person on earth so they believe he killed 19 people, and all sorts of things.” [me] “Let me go,” he told the jury.
Hilton then asked Copeland why he didn't just say Williams was in Infinity during filming, if he “wanted to make [Williams] “It sounds so bad.” Copeland responded with what has become his catchphrase on social media and in a new song he released online this week: “I don’t remember.”
Prosecutors alleged that Williams had a falling out with Thomas prior to the killing and also had an interest in asserting YSL dominance over Thomas' rival Bloods faction, known as the Inglewood Family. Williams is not charged with killing Thomas in the indictment, but the killing is listed as an overt act in furtherance of the alleged YSL gang conspiracy.
Now, Demonte “Yak Gotti” Kendrick and Shannon Stillwell face additional charges in Thomas's murder, along with Williams. Three other YSL members have also been charged in Thomas's murder, but their cases have been separated from the current trial. Kendrick and Stillwell deny any involvement in the murder.
In another testimony that could be pivotal Tuesday, Copeland claimed he was upset with Williams during a June 2015 police interview because Williams mentioned him in his song “Halftime.” Copeland said he believed the lyrics implicated him in a crime.
“I was angry that he released that song,” Copeland told the jury. “He shouldn’t have done it. So, I’m going to blame him. Don’t blame me. I’m going to blame you. That was my whole motivation.”
“I didn’t like the fact that the police tried to make it sound like this song was designed to say I pulled over and did this to this guy,” Copeland testified. “That’s the song I didn’t like. I didn’t like the timing of the song… When they released the song, there was an investigation into me and you continued to harass me, and that’s what I didn’t like.”
Williams was in court Friday for his 33rd birthday wearing a burgundy suit and tie. He has been in custody since his arrest on a RICO indictment in May 2022. He has pleaded not guilty to eight charges including racketeering conspiracy, street gang involvement and various drug and weapons charges. Steele said in his opening that Williams allows people to stay at his various homes, and that the items found during the search were not his. Steele said Williams should not be held responsible for crimes that other people may have committed in misguided attempts to get his attention and approval.
Steele also used part of his op-ed to say that Copeland had once been named by federal prosecutors to be among Georgia’s top 10 most violent criminals. Steele said Copeland broke into Thomas’ car and stole his jewelry, wallet and cellphone shortly before the killing, making him a target of Thomas’ wrath and a suspect in the shooting. Steele alleges that Copeland lied to police to deflect blame.
More than 70 witnesses have testified so far in the high-profile trial. Prosecutors say they plan to call at least 100 more. After that, lawyers for each of the six defendants will be able to call their own witnesses. The trial is expected to last through the end of the year, possibly into February or March, Judge Whitaker said, out of sight of the jury.
