From what started as a fight at a DeKalb County gas station and ended in a man being gunned down in 2016, a 30-year gang member is now behind bars for the rest of his life, authorities said.
Leroy Starr Copney Jr., 49, who is a member of the “All Star Gangstas,” a New York subset of the “Bloods” criminal street gang, was found guilty of murder, felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, criminal gang activity and weapons offenses in the killing of 30-year-old Andrew Spencer, the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
On Dec. 29, 2016, Spencer and his friend, Quintin Heard, were leaving the Follies strip club when they decided to stop at a QuikTrip along Buford Highway in Chamblee just before 3:25 a.m., the Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. Copney and a group of friends had walked in moments prior to get snacks after a night out at a club, the district attorney said.
Inside the store, a fight between Spencer and Copney ensued. Witnesses said Spencer may have either “bumped” into Copney or reached for a hot dog at the same time, according to the district attorney.
Heard previously told the AJC that a man at the hot dog stand didn’t know where the buns were, so Spencer got in front of the man to assist him. Copney then exited the store, retrieved a weapon from a car and waited outside for Spencer and Heard, the District Attorney’s Office said.
“We were walking out, and there he is outside the store with a jacket and a hood on and his hands in his pocket,” Heard said.
Copney approached the two and asked, “What’s poppin’?” an apparent inquiry as to whether Spencer was a member of the “Bloods,” the district attorney said. Spencer was not a gang member. He was an up-and-coming singer and songwriter.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Copney then followed Spencer and Heard to the gas pumps and fired six shots at them, according to the district attorney. Spencer was struck in the chest. Heard found him lying on his stomach, barely breathing, he previously told the AJC.
“I held him in my arms until he took his last breath,” Heard said.
Copney was taken into custody in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Feb. 17, 2017. At the time of his arrest, he was found in possession of an AK-47.
During his trial, Copney testified that Heard had a gun and threatened him, but video surveillance of the incident disproved that testimony, the district attorney said.
Copney was sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus 55 years.
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