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'She was definitely a force' | Powell cheer coaches remember 13-year-old killed

Savannah Copeland's coaches described her as spunky, a leader and passionate about cheerleading.

POWELL, Tenn. — The Powell community continues to mourn a 13-year-old girl who authorities said was stabbed by a 15-year-old friend on a walking trail in the Broadacres neighborhood. 

Savannah Copeland was a cheerleader, a friend, a daughter and a lover of animals. Her cheer coaches described her as spunky, athletic, shy and kind-hearted. 

"She was definitely a force," Powell Mac Junior Varsity Cheer Coach Terri Shelander said. "So incredibly athletic and strong. And she could run circles around the other girls."

Her coach Courtney Grooms said Savannah lit up when she was at practice. She loved tumbling, and cheerleading helped the quiet girl her family describes as introverted, find her voice.

"The girl didn't walk," Grooms said. "She skipped on over everywhere she was going. So it was really great to see her be more active and outgoing, especially in cheer. I think that's what brought her out."

Grooms and Shelander said the tragic death has hit the Powell Cheer team of middle schoolers especially hard.

"We had multiple days where the girls' parents volunteered their homes," Grooms said. "We could go and let the girls just be together. They could cry, they could tell stories and laugh."

The coaches said an added layer to the situation was a looming cheer competition that was set two weeks after Copeland's death. Savannah was the one supposed to hold the megaphone in the routine.

"Before we even asked the question, they were immediately [saying] 'We don't want somebody to take her place,'" Shelander said. "Nobody else wants to do the megaphone. Can we do a recording? Does anybody have it on video?'"

The team started the routine with a voice recording of Savannah starting the cheer. Grooms said some of the girls were choked up the first time they heard her voice during practice.

The team also honored their teammate with Def Leppard t-shirts, (fittingly, they're light blue, her favorite color) an homage to Savannah's love of music, which she shared with her dad.

Credit: Courtney Grooms
Powell Mac Cheer team wears Def Leppard t-shirts and signs a megaphone at their competition in honor of their teammate.

The coaches also said other cheer teams across Knoxville have worn bracelets, orange bows and given flowers to the team to show their support. 

The Powell Mac Cheer team will also be hosting a donation drive to Young Williams because Savannah loved animals.

For those wanting to participate, the drive will take place at Beaver Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church on Sunday, Dec. 8 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. They are collecting pet food, toys, blankets and other supplies needed for the shelter.

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