Defense asks court to bar death penalty for Copeland in clerk shooting

TUPELO – A Tupelo man who shot a compliant convenience store clerk in the back of the head two years ago should not face the death penalty, attorneys argue. Defense attorneys say he is intellectually disabled (formerly called mentally retarded) and therefore cannot legally be sentenced to death.

The state-funded public defenders filed a motion last week to bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against Christopher Copeland.

Copeland, now 28, was under house arrest for a previous burglary conviction when he walked into the Chevron Food Mart at the corner of Cliff Gookin Boulevard and South Thomas Street on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022, and allegedly shot clerk Parmuegr Singh, 33, in the head while robbing the store.

Video footage from the store's security system shows Singh not only complying with Copeland's demands but giving the robber an extra stack of money for which he didn't ask. Singh opened the safe and even gave Copeland a bank bag to carry the cash. The store's video camera recorded Copeland jumping the counter and shooting the clerk execution-style in the back of the head at point-blank range.

Defense attorney Lenderrick Taylor with the Office of State Public Defender said in the motion filed Nov. 8 that a recent test of cognitive abilities showed Copeland had "mild mental retardation" and an IQ of 69. He cited case law where other defendants were ruled mentally retarded with IQs of 71 and 68. The two cases used two different tests to determine the intelligence quotient.

"In order to expose the defendant to the death penalty, the state of Mississippi carries the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that he is not mentally retarded," Taylor wrote.

The defense motion did not say when Copland was tested. Court documents show the defense asked for competency and intellectual disability evaluations in January. Dr. Julie Teater, a forensic psychologist in Biloxi, was to conduct the tests Jan. 12 at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl.

In September, the defense asked Circuit Judge Paul Funderburk to allow a second psychologist to conduct the same tests. Those evaluations by Dr. Rivka Olley were scheduled for Sept. 17. The motion was filed seven weeks after the second set of tests ordered by the defense.

Court documents do not show that the state has conducted a separate mental evaluation of Copeland.

A Lee County grand jury indicted Copeland on charges of capital murder and possession of a firearm by a felon. In Mississippi, a capital murder conviction has only two possible sentences – life without parole or death.

During the arraignment in September 2023, then District Attorney John Weddle said the state was seeking the death penalty. Interim District Attorney Jason Herring's office has not responded to the motion.

Copeland was arrested by the Tupelo Police Department and held initially in the Lee County Adult Jail. About six weeks after the killing, a circuit court judge reinstated a 16-year suspended sentence for a previous home burglary charge that landed Copeland on house arrest. He has remained in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections ever since.