Who was Bubba Copeland's wife? Alabama mayor outed for dressing as 'curvy girl' warned of ‘dark days’ before his suicide
LEE COUNTY, ALABAMA: FL "Bubba" Copeland, the Smiths Station mayor who is survived by his wife Angela and three kids, reportedly told a friend he was facing "dark days" before killing himself after images of his 'trangender alter ego' surfaced.
The 49-year-old, who also served as the pastor of First Baptist Church of Phenix City, died by suicide on Friday, November 3 after details of his 'alter ego' Brittini Blaire Summerlin were shared online.
The details were shared by 1819 News which published photos of Copeland in women’s bras, makeup, and wigs. The news site shared another story on the same day of his death, alleging that he wrote violent fantasy fiction and posted photos of people from his community to his Reddit page and elsewhere without their consent.
After reading the controversial stories, a few of Copeland’s friends called to check on him.
"After watching for a day or two people just relentlessly attacking Bubba [online], I was quite bothered by it, and I just decided to reach out to him," former Phenix City School Superintendent Larry DiChiara told NBC News.
"It was the day before he passed away. I said: 'Bubba, keep your head up. You’re a good man with a great heart. Don’t ever forget that. Call me if you need me.' And his response was: 'Thank you. It’s been some dark days.' And I said: 'I’m sure; just hang there. It will pass,” he continued.
Before his suicide death, Copeland had also contacted another friend, Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones, who shared his anguish after the story was published.
"It was a friend calling a friend," Jones told the outlet, adding, "Let's just say he was concerned about the article. I think 'upset' would be a good way of putting it."
When did Bubba Copeland take his life?
Authorities previously revealed that following the release of the images, a welfare check was called into the sheriff's office on Friday.
Two deputies went first to Copeland's home and then to a market he owned before they found him driving on a county road, as per Daily Mail.
The officials then were involved in a chase and flashed their emergency lights in an attempt to get him to stop. After 10 minutes, Copeland finally stopped, got out of the car, and killed himself.
"We had no idea Copeland would die on the spot," Jones said, adding, "There was obvious concern for his welfare, and deputies were attempting to get him to stop, make contact with him and assess the situation and then take action based on that assessment."
The superintendent of schools, DiChiara, blamed Copeland's death on people who mocked him after the images were released. "Some people are just heartless even in the man’s death. His son is really having a hard time with it. His teenage son is taking it pretty tough,” he said.
Did Bubba Copeland's wife knew of his 'hobby'?
Copeland’s death came just hours after 1819 News published a lengthy story about his personal life, which included screenshots of his social media accounts, where he pretended to be "Brittini Blaire Summerlin," a Reddit user who described herself as "a transitioning transgender curvy girl [who] loves smiling, clothes and shoes!"
The Alabama nonprofit online news site stated that the mayor began his 'hobby' of cross-dressing when he was young, but he did not clarify when he began portraying Brittini Blaire Summerlin.
"It's a hobby I do to relieve stress. I have a lot of stress, and I'm not medically transitioning," Copeland said in a statement to the news site.
“It's just a bit of a character I'm playing. … I don't go out and seek solicitation or anything like that. It's just a hobby that I have inside my own home that has not traveled outside of my home,” he continued.
As per the news site, his wife Angela was also aware of his “hobby” which also included uploading at least four works of identity theft and transsexual pornography to a website.
1819 News further claimed that Copeland frequently left comments on other people's posts, calling himself a “thick transgender woman” and urging other transgender people to embark on hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
