Chris Copeland, 26, of Moore Avenue, Tupelo, was formally charged with capital murder, in Tupelo Municipal Court. During his initial appearance, Judge Jay Weir ordered him held without bond.
Tupelo Police detective Wes Kloac said the security video from inside the Chevron Food Mart at the corner of Cliff Gookin Boulevard and South Thomas Street showed a man wearing distinctive clothing walking into the store around 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 11. Kloac said the suspect can be seen pulling a handgun out of his waistband and pointing it at clerk Parmvir Singh.
“The clerk is very gracious and even gave him a stack of money he didn’t ask for,” Kloac testified. “He opened the safe for him and gave him a bank bag.”
The video shows the suspect ordering Singh to the floor. He complied, sitting on the floor. The suspect can then be seen jumping over the counter.
“(The suspect) then walked up behind Mr. Singh and, at point blank range, executed him,” Kloac said.
According to the detective, the video shows the suspect standing over Singh’s body to retrieve the spent shell casing. He then looked at the security camera, ripped out what he thought was the DVD recorder box and fled the store, the detective said.
Copeland, who said he has been living on the streets since last December, has prior felony convictions for burglary of an inhabited dwelling and two counts of burglary of an auto.
In calling for Copeland to be held without bond, Tupelo city prosecutor Richard Babb said the crime was “outrageous, cold and monstrously barbaric. He is surely a danger to the community.”
Singh, 33, was carried to the North Mississippi Medical Center emergency room in grave condition. He was pronounced dead about six hours after he was shot.
