YSL Woody’s Barbershop Shooting: Admission and Trial Collapse

Kenneth “Lil Woody” Copeland’s barbershop shooting admission came in the middle of the YSL RICO trial, when the state’s star witness told a Fulton County jury that he and an associate known as “Threat” had opened fire on an Atlanta barbershop owned by the father of rapper Rich Homie Quan in September 2014. He confessed only after the judge confirmed his testimony could not be used against him, and within days he was undoing the rest of the case he was supposed to help build.

Who Lil Woody Is

Copeland is a 33-year-old Atlanta rapper with a long criminal history. Federal investigators described him as gang-affiliated and known to carry weapons, and by the time of the YSL trial he had 11 prior convictions. He was sentenced to federal prison on October 22, 2018, on a felon-in-possession firearms charge.¹

His path to the witness stand began with a 2021 traffic stop. Arrested with a loaded gun, he reportedly told police about past and future crimes, including an alleged murder plot involving Young Thug (Jeffery Williams), and indicated he could help obtain a confession from the rapper.² That made him central to the state’s theory tying Young Thug to the January 10, 2015, drive-by killing of Donovan “Nut” Thomas Jr., a murder prosecutors alleged YSL committed to consolidate power.³

What He Admitted About the Barbershop Shooting

The shooting Copeland confessed to happened in September 2014 in Atlanta’s Bankhead neighborhood. Before he answered any questions about it, he asked the presiding judge to confirm that what he said could not be used against him. Once assured, he stated plainly that he and Threat had opened fire on the barbershop.⁴ Corey Lamar, a rapper signed to the barbershop, was shot and hospitalized.⁵

Deputy District Attorney Symone Hilton asked Copeland why he did it. He answered that the shooting was meant “to send a message” that “we ain’t the ones to play with.”⁵ He said he was “beefin'” with Rich Homie Quan and had chosen to “ride with” Threat.⁴ Prosecutors used the confession as a building block in their larger narrative connecting acts of violence to the YSL enterprise. For Copeland himself, the admission carried no legal consequence under his immunity deal.

How His Testimony Collapsed

Copeland began testifying on June 10, 2024, and almost immediately began resisting. He invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when asked his own age. Judge Ural Glanville held him in willful contempt on June 7 and ordered him jailed until the following Monday.⁶

Once back on the stand, he began dismantling his prior statements to police. He told the court he had “lied about almost everything in 2015” to avoid jail.⁷ He said he had implicated Young Thug because “that’s what the police wanted to hear,” explaining: “in my mind, I knew the police would never go mess with him. It was easy for me to try throw the blame off on him to get them off of me.”⁸ He answered question after question with “I don’t recall,” and observers reported he dozed off while evidence was played.⁹

The defense also raised Copeland’s own motive to want Donovan Thomas harmed. Attorney Brian Steel elicited testimony that Copeland had stolen items from Thomas’s car, prompting Thomas to want Copeland “physically” hurt in retaliation. Copeland had himself been charged with Thomas’s murder, though that charge was later dropped.³ The defense argued that Copeland, not Young Thug, may have been responsible.

The court declared Copeland a hostile witness.¹⁰⁷⁸¹¹

Copeland later released a single titled “I Don’t Recall,” named after the courtroom refrain that had come to define him.¹²

The Immunity Deal

Copeland testified under “use immunity,” meaning his own words could not be used to prosecute him. Defense attorneys pointed out that this was narrower than “transactional immunity” and that prosecutors outside Fulton County could still charge him if independent evidence surfaced. The agreement required truthful testimony.¹³ Whether he honored that condition is debatable.

Judge Whitaker warned Copeland that continued refusal to testify would draw a contempt finding and possible custody through the end of the trial.¹¹ His representation was chaotic in its own right; he appeared uncertain about who his lawyer was and at one point fired his attorney from the stand.¹

The Ex Parte Meeting That Cost the Judge His Seat

Copeland’s refusal to testify triggered the trial’s biggest procedural crisis. On the morning of June 10, 2024, Judge Ural Glanville held a private meeting in his chambers with prosecutors, Copeland, and Copeland’s attorney. Defense lawyers were not present and were not notified.¹⁴ Prosecutors told Copeland he had been granted both state and federal immunity and warned that continued refusal would keep him in custody for the duration of the trial.¹⁵

When Young Thug’s attorney Brian Steel learned of the meeting, he confronted Glanville in open court and alleged the prosecutors had coerced and intimidated the witness. Steel refused to reveal how he found out. Glanville ordered him to disclose the source by 5 p.m., and when Steel declined, citing attorney-client privilege, the judge held him in contempt and had him taken into custody.¹⁶

Defense attorneys moved to remove Glanville. Judge Rachel Krause granted the recusal, ruling that “the necessity of preserving the public’s confidence in the judicial system” required his removal, though she did not question his ability to preside.¹⁴ Glanville was replaced on July 15, 2024, and Judge Paige Reese Whitaker presided over the rest of the case.¹⁷

How the Case Ended

The YSL prosecution closed without a single murder conviction. Young Thug pleaded guilty and no contest to gang, drug, and gun charges in October 2024, receiving 40 years with five commuted to time served and 15 years of probation, and was released from custody.¹⁷ In the December 2024 jury trial of co-defendants Deamonte “Yak Gotti” Kendrick and Shannon Stillwell, Kendrick was acquitted on all counts and Stillwell was found guilty only of gun possession as a convicted felon, drawing a 10-year sentence with two years credited and the balance on probation.¹⁸ The last defendant, Christian Eppinger, entered an Alford plea on June 9, 2025, formally closing the case.¹⁹

Of the 28 original defendants, 19 pleaded guilty, seven had charges dropped, one was acquitted on all counts, and one was convicted only of a lesser charge. No one was convicted of Donovan Thomas’s murder. His mother, Shawonna Edmond, told reporters, “I really don’t know what to say. It didn’t bring me any closure. My heart is still broken.”²⁰

Where Lil Woody Is Now

Copeland has stayed in the news since the trial. He was involved in a motorcycle crash on Peters Street in Atlanta, where video showed him bloodied and motionless near a wrecked dirt bike. His management team said he was hospitalized with a mild concussion and scrapes and was expected to make a full recovery.²¹

On July 3, 2025, he was arrested in Atlanta and charged with facilitating an exhibition of illegal drag racing. The arrest warrant states he was “knowingly present while actively participating in and helping facilitate” illegal drag racing at a “Wet and Wild” themed event on June 22, 2025, by throwing water balloons and hanging out of the sunroof of a car. He was released on a $1,300 bond.²²

1
XXL Magazine. Who Is YSL Woody in the Young Thug Trial
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FOX 5 Atlanta. Young Thug Trial Lil Woody Arrested Refusing Testify Trial
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Rolling Stone. Young Thug Witness Kenneth Copeland YSL RICO Trial
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Yahoo News. Young Thug Laughs Off Rich Homie Quan Barbershop Shooting
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11Alive. Lil Woody Song I Don’t Recall Young Thug YSL Trial
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Rolling Stone. Young Thug YSL RICO Trial What to Know
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NPR. Young Thug Judge YSL RICO Case
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FOX 5 Atlanta. Young Thug YSL Trial Transcript Ex Parte Meeting Released
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6abc. Young Thug Lawyer Arrested Brian Steel Held in Contempt
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NPR. Young Thug Guilty Plea YSL Trial
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Los Angeles Times. YSL RICO Trial Ends Defendants Not Guilty Young Thug
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Billboard. Young Thug YSL RICO Case Ends Last Guilty Plea
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The YSL Case Has Finally Ended and Absolutely Everybody Lost, Experts Say
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FOX 5 Atlanta. YSL Trial Witness Lil Woody Reportedly Injured in Crash
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FOX Carolina. Rapper Lil Woody Arrested in Atlanta Charged With Drag Racing