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Police make arrest in Seventh Avenue stabbing death

Willie Lee Brown III

By Lightning Reports, Published: January 14, 2025

Hendersonville police charged a 34-year-old local man with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Kevin Deran Copelin two days before Christmas on Seventh Avenue East.
City police officers responding to a call at 8:43 p.m Dec. 23 on Seventh Avenue at Robinson Terrace found Copelin, 50, severely injured from the knife assault. EMS immediately transported the victim to UNC Health Pardee, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Following an investigation, detectives identified Willie Lee Brown III as a suspect, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. On Sunday at the request of Hendersonville police the U.S. Marshal Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force took Brown into custody in Asheville without incident. Bound over on the first-degree murder in Henderson County District Court, he remains jailed without bond in the Henderson County Detention Center.  
The Hendersonville Police Department urged anyone with information about the incident to contact Detective Torbett at 828-697-3025. Anonymous tips may be submitted through the Hendersonville Police Department app or by calling 911, the city said in a news release.