Murder charge filed in Copperas Cove shooting that killed Theodore Snead

A murder charge has been filed in the Copperas Cove shooting that killed Theodore Lee Snead, and Davarious Jashawn Lee is being held at the Killeen Police Department in Bell County on that charge and additional arrest-related charges. For Coryell County residents, the case now shifts from the street to the court system after two gunfire responses in Copperas Cove in less than a day.

Copperas Cove police were dispatched to the 700 block of Constitution Drive at about 12:28 a.m. Thursday after a reported shooting. Police later identified the victim as Theodore Lee Snead. The arrest and murder charge followed the early-morning call, which drew officers to a residential block in the city’s west side.

The murder charge means the case is now in the formal criminal justice process, with Lee being held in Bell County while the investigation and prosecution move ahead. Police have also said Lee was arrested in connection with a separate Copperas Cove shooting that triggered a lockdown at nearby Cove ISD buildings Wednesday morning. That earlier call came in at about 8:09 a.m., when officers were sent to the 700 block of South 13th Street after shots were reported.

At that South 13th Street scene, officers found an adult male suffering from gunshot wounds. The lockdown spread concern beyond the immediate block because school buildings nearby were forced to go into safety mode while police responded. The pair of shootings, one before dawn on Constitution Drive and another during the school day on South 13th Street, put nearby neighborhoods, parents and school staff on alert as Copperas Cove police continued sorting out the two incidents.