Hi everyone, it's Allison Flowers from The Somebody Podcast. We're sharing another special

podcast with you this week, A Slight Change of Plans, which was just named Apple Podcast's

Best Show of the Year. Hosted by Maya Shankar, A Slight Change of Plans is all about understanding

the science of change. That understanding, mixed with a healthy dose of compassion,

has made the show a perfect antidote for the times we're living in. Maya has interviewed

celebrities like Tiffany Haddish and Casey Musgraves, but she's interviewed real-life inspirations too,

people who have dealt with cancer diagnoses or the loss of a loved one, and somehow managed to learn

and grow from those hard experiences. We challenge you to listen to an episode and not be inspired.

In this episode, Maya talks to Shapurl about Courtney's story, and Shapurl's continued fight for

the truth. You can find more episodes of a Slight Change of Plans wherever you get your podcasts.

I remember that night, like it was yesterday, I could still hear the thunderous beat in my head,

and I remember being so startled out of my sleep because I've never experienced such a

dammit at my door, so it shocked me and I knew that something bad had happened.

That's Shapurl Wells describing the moment when Chicago police officers showed up on her doorstep

in the middle of the night. Her oldest child, her 22-year-old son, Courtney Copeland, had been

fatally shot. Shapurl needed answers about what had happened in Courtney's final moments,

but it soon became clear she wasn't going to get them unless she took matters into her own hands.

It wasn't by choice that I took this journey and investigating my son's murder. I had no other option.

Shapurl did not know at the time that she'd spent the next five years trying to figure out what exactly

had happened to Courtney. On today's episode, a mother channels her grief into justice for her son.

I'm Maya Shankar, and this is a Slight Change of Plans, a show about who we are and who we become

in the face of a big change. Shapurl was grieving the loss of her son, Courtney,

...