On the morning of Monday, April 24, 2023, deputies responded to a home on Bran Road in Oak Grove, Louisiana, after a call for assistance. Inside the residence they found 61-year-old William Dewayne Copeland deceased from a gunshot wound. The Louisiana State Police took over the inquiry as a homicide investigation.

Investigators focused on Copeland’s wife, 56-year-old Frances Gilley Copeland, who was at the house. She was arrested and booked into the River Bend Detention Center and charged with one count of second-degree murder and one count of obstruction of justice. The investigation remained active as authorities continued to piece together what happened.

If anyone in Oak Grove knew William Copeland, his movements the morning of April 24, or has information about the household, please come forward to assist the ongoing inquiry.