MARK STRASSMANN: Kouren Thomas was shot and killed right about this spot. The shotgun blast came through that garage door and the alleged killer told a 911 dispatcher he fired in self-defense. But the victim's mother disagrees.
SIMONE BUTLER-THOMAS: My heart was just ripped out. Somebody just stomped on it. I felt empty.
STRASSMANN: Simone Butler-Thomas lost her youngest child early Sunday morning. 20-year-old son Kouren Thomas was fatally shot after leaving a crowded house party.
[...]
This is 39-year-old Chad Copley, who allegedly called 911 shortly before the shooting.
[...]
Investigators say Copley fired his shotgun from inside his garage, killing Thomas. He was unarmed. His mother says race was a major factor. Kouren, you say, didn't see color?
BUTLER-THOMAS: No, oh no.
STRASSMANN: But the caller.
BUTLER-THOMAS: Did. My children never, ever lived in the projects. They always went to the best schools, and had the best of everything.
STRASSMANN: Nothing about Kouren was a hoodlum?
BUTLER-THOMAS: Nothing.
