POWELL, Tenn. — A Powell family continues to grieve the loss of their 13-year-old daughter and process the conflicting emotions of another teen being accused in her murder.
Malakiah Harris, 15, is in custody facing juvenile charges in connection to the deadly stabbing of Savannah Copeland. Investigators believe the two met up on a wooded trail in Powell on Oct. 22.
Her father, Michael, wants to make sure his daughter’s memory is not forgotten and the suspect is brought to justice.
Who was Savannah Copeland?
Savannah, or ‘Van’ as her family called her, was introverted and loved scary movies.
“She was a lot like me,” Michael said.
He said though she was an introvert, that all changed when she was on the sidelines of a football field or basketball court.
“She loved gymnastics but particularly the tumbling part,” Michael explained. “So cheerleading became the obvious place. She just loved being out there and doing the things that cheerleaders do.”
The Copelands were constants at Powell Middle School games to cheer on their girl.
13-year-old cheerleader goes missing
"There is actually a picture of her standing outside. She was really happy. It was really fun," Michael said, reminiscing about that night at a basketball game in late October.
His daughter was on the sidelines cheering on the Powell Middle School Panthers as they faced Halls on the hardwood.
"She just loved being out there and doing the things that cheerleaders do," he said.
It was the last time Michael, his wife and two sons would see her alive.
"I had actually gone to work that morning, and my wife called me when it was time for the kids to get up and told me she wasn’t in her room," he said.
The family scoured the area around their home and the Broad Acres neighborhood. They tracked her phone to a wooded area nearby.
Twelve hours later a detective knocked on the Copeland’s door. Savannah’s body was discovered along a trail close to where her phone last pinged.
"It’s a surreal feeling that for a moment. You don’t feel like its real and you just expect to wake up," Michael said.
The search for justice
Investigators said she was stabbed several times with a pocketknife. Within hours detectives named a suspect -- a 15-year-old boy who was a friend of Savannah and her family.
“We had a lot of sympathy for him and wanted to help be a part of loving him…just showing him love and care,” he said. “There are a lot of conflicting emotions of course. The natural one is to move toward anger and rage toward him. But this is someone we cared about.”
Michael said he doesn’t have answer as to why his daughter was killed.
“Obviously, something made him angry. And he’s not at an age where he doesn’t fully recognize the consequences,” he said.
Those consequences include the chance prosecutors will try the suspect in adult court. It’s a move the Copeland family supports. A conviction on second-degree murder would mean the difference between leaving juvenile custody at age 19 and spending 15 to 25 years behind bars.
Michael and the rest of his family is focused on justice. He said he hasn’t spoke with the suspect because now isn’t the time.
“I’ve actually gone over in my head a few times if I really want to go sit down with him at some point face to face. I think I will at some point. It may be 10 years; it may be three years from now,” he explained. “But yeah, I want to look him in the eye and ask why. Given all the efforts that we have put into him, the care that we gave to him, apparently didn’t mean anything.”
'There's still light there' | Community comforts a grieving family
The Copelands are only beginning to process their grief but at a fence near where she was found, a memorial to their daughter grows. A cross marks where Savannah spent her final moments. Flowers, stuffed animals and leftover Halloween candy are scattered in her memory.
“I love seeing the outpouring of emotion, concern and love,” he said. “As difficult as it is, we don’t need to shy away. We need to embrace it because that’s what makes us human.”
Michael said he and his family are comforted by the outpouring of love from friends and strangers.
“When you are in a dark place sometimes it’s difficult to see anything until you realize there is still light there and it actually looks brighter because you are in a dark place but the reality is that light has always been there,” he said. “I am a religious person and I'm going to say that light comes from God but it is seen through the community through the people and the relationships we are surrounded by.”
Back at the memorial, Michael, a landscaper by trade, refuses to see the tragedy but instead the beauty of the space.
“I want to see if I can make this a place where you might want to come and sit and be,” he said.
It’s a step toward healing this father never imagined he would have to take.
“But we have to recognize we are going to have to build a new normal which is not going to be nearly as good, nearly as joyful but is still what it is and it’s necessary,” Michael said.