MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A 23-year-old man accused of stabbing his girlfriend and leaving her body on a Jackson Avenue sidewalk in January has been indicted on first-degree murder charges, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.
A grand jury Thursday also indicted defendant Keedrin Coppage on felony charges of tampering with/fabricating evidence.
At around 11:40 a.m. on Jan. 2, 2020, the body of 18-year-old Sabrina Nguyen was found on Jackson Avenue at Maple Drive in North Memphis. She had been stabbed to death. The following day, Coppage was arrested and charged with her murder. He had multiple warrants for aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault and aggravated stalking, with Sabrina Nguyen as the victim in each case.
He gave police a statement, including that he was with the victim before and after the stabbing, that he put her body in the trunk of her car, and that he drove to Jackson and Maple where he placed it on the sidewalk. Coppage also said he tried to clean blood from inside her car and that he changed the clothes he was wearing at the time of her death.
The case is being handled by Asst. Dist. Attys. Glenda Adams and Venecia Patterson of the District Attorney’s Domestic Violence Unit (DVU) which handles cases of domestic assault and homicide committed by intimate partners. DVU cases are handled in General Sessions Division 10 and Criminal Court Division 5.
The DVU works closely with the Shelby County Family Safety Center and numerous other agencies such as Kindred Place and the YWCA to provide support and assistance to victims of interpersonal violence.
