Woman accused of tracking down, murdering brother’s suspected killer

Tityana Coppage's younger sibling, high school junior Jason Ugwuh, was shot three days earlier.

Jan 20, 2021

Tityana Coppage, 21, has been arrested after allegedly tracking down and killing the man suspected of slaying her teenage brother.

The Kansas City woman reportedly sent a text message to her deceased brother afterward, letting him know she had avenged his murder.

Accused Kansas City killer Tityana Coppage, 21, reportedly sent a text message to her deceased brother afterward, letting him know she had avenged his murder. (Jackson County Detention Center)

Coppage’s younger sibling, Jason Ugwuh, 16, was shot and killed on Jan. 10. The high school junior was a standout basketball player.

Kansas City Police allege that Coppage called the victim before shooting him in a parking lot three days later. The victim, identified by a local reporter as Keith Lars, was driven away by his brother, who was in the car, but he stopped the vehicle and called for help.

Medical personnel tried to save the victim, but he was pronounced dead on the scene.

According to a report, Coppage told police she got into “an exchange of gunfire with the victim” and described the situation as self-defense.

However, incriminating messages were found on her cell phone, including a text to her dead brother saying, “Sent a [expletive] to my brother I owe em that body.”

Ugwuh was found wounded inside a home after police responded to reports of gunshots. He later died from his injury. Kansas City Crimestoppers began looking for tips to identify his killer the day after the shooting.

The family of Coppage and Ugwuh had experienced the pain of being victims of gun violence previously. In 2016, someone fired shots into their home, shooting and killing their eight-year-old brother, Jayden Ugwuh, and their nine-year-old cousin, Montell Ross.

That murder is still unsolved.

Social media users are split on Coppage’s arrest. Many are offering support for her “loyalty,” while others are expressing empathy for her many family losses.

Charged with second-degree murder, she has yet not appeared in court.

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