Many people feel like they are invincible when they are 18. The world is ripe for the picking, and there is nothing they can’t do.
Leon “L.J.” Hopkins Jr. was no different. He had with big dreams of a music career as “Lil El” and his first son was on the way.
In the early morning hours of Oct. 9, 2015, those big dreams were brought to an abrupt halt when gunshots ended L.J.’s life in a case that, almost six years later, remains the only unsolved homicide for that year.
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Richmond County Sheriff’s Office reports describe deputies arriving at 505 13th Street at 3:20 a.m. in response to shots being fired and a victim down. Upon their arrival, however, the responding officers discovered that L.J. and his friend had both been shot.
L.J.’s family identified the second victim as Recardell Sheppard.
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The two young men had been shooting dice with a group of other men outside Building E of River Ridge Apartments when an unidentified person approached the group on foot and began shooting, according to the coroner’s report.
Sheppard was transported to then-GRU Medical Center Emergency Room where he was treated for gunshot wounds to his lower extremities and later released.
L.J. had been shot multiple times in his head and chest. He was pronounced dead at approximately 4:15 a.m.
According to his parents, Leon Hopkins Sr. and Nikisha Terry, L.J. was ambitious, driven to be successful with music. By all accounts, he had reason to be.
“He kind of shocked me with it. Even though I knew I was giving him money to go in the studio, but I didn’t know he was into it like he was,” Terry said.
Hopkins said that in the days before his son was killed, L.J. and Sheppard both traveled to Atlanta to audition for 8Ball and MJG, a hip-hop duo from Memphis, Tenn., but only L.J. was chosen. The contract was scheduled to be signed a few days later, Hopkins said, but L.J. was killed before he could sign.
On Oct. 10, just one day after L.J. lost his life, Sheppard posted several Facebook posts of himself at a party with 8ball and MJG. Posts include statements like, “This for us el we piped wish u cud live it with us” and “u live threw me this how it feel to be here.”
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Investigators questioned Sheppard and the other men who’d been shooting dice numerous times, and, at some point during the investigation, they were able to determine a person of interest, Terry said. Unfortunately, they were unable to pursue charges against the individual because of insufficient evidence, she added.
“Now when I see them, they can’t even look me in my face,” Terry said, referring to the witnesses. “Really deep down in my heart, I feel like they had something to do with it.”
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In fact, Terry felt so strongly, she said, that she went as far as to request a meeting with Sheriff Richard Roundtree. Her request was ignored.
Since the death of their son, Hopkins and Terry have been left to raise his son, a son, they say constantly asks questions about his father and what happened that night six years ago.
“I know there’s a lot of people out there that know what happened,” Terry said. “Nobody wants to speak on it, but somebody knows something.”
Anna Porzio is a correspondent with The Augusta Press. Reach her at anna@theaugustapress.com.
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