- March 11, 2025
He heard the gun shots. He saw a man standing in the dark, pressing a gun against the screen of his kitchen’s sliding glass door. But it took a moment for Accursio Clausio Venezia to realize he had been shot.
He took a few steps and felt the pain. He looked down and saw the blood. Clutching his chest, he climbed the stairs to the second story of his home.
He eased himself into a chair and said little, as his family called police and waited for deputies to arrive.He was having trouble breathing and would later learn that a bullet had traveled through his left lung. He was airlifted to Halifax Hospital for an emergency surgery that saved his life.
Venezia testified in court Wednesday, before a jury of seven men and Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano, that the man he saw pointing a gun into his home on May 18, 2011, was William Copeland, his daughter’s former boyfriend.
Copeland, of Palm Coast, stands accused of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm; aggravated battery with a firearm and causing great bodily harm; and shooting into a building. If convicted, he could face a lifetime sentence.
Immediately before the shooting, the Venezia family had been in bed. They heard the doorbell ring several times, and both Accursio Venezia and his 20-year-old daughter, Corina, rose to see who was there.
They met at the top of the stairs. Accursio Venezia told his daughter to stay there, but she suspected Copeland was on the other side of the door, she said, so she followed her father down.
Accursio Venezia opened the door and saw nobody. He said he wanted to secure the rest of his home, so he retreated to the kitchen, where he kept a pellet gun. But before he could reach for it, he was shot.
The night of the shooting
Corina Venezia and Copeland met and started dating while they were in high school. Their relationship was, Corina Venezia said, “on again, off again.”
Corina Venezia and Copeland had a daughter together, who was 11 months old at the time of the shooting. So, while they weren’t together at the time Accursio Venezia was shot, Copeland had a permanent connection with the Venezia family.
The day of the shooting, the two had argued about Copeland’s role in their daughter’s life. Corina Venezia said she’d threatened to seek child support payments from Copeland if he didn’t help her with the costs of diapers and other necessities.
This made Copeland angry, she testified. He threatened her and her family, she said.
So when she heard the doorbell ring late the night of the shooting, she said she thought she knew who it was.
Assistant State Attorney Mark Johnson said Copeland came to the Venezia residence that night, rang the doorbell, circled the home and shot Accursio Venezia though the kitchen door.
But Copeland’s attorney, Lynn Martin, said there were inconsistencies in testimonies from the prosecution’s witnesses.
She questioned Accursio Venezia about a deposition he gave in August, during which he said that immediately after being shot, he saw Copeland standing 10 to 15 feet away from the sliding glass door.
But in court, he’d testified that Copeland had stood right outside the door with a gun pressed against its screen. No other members of the family had seen the gunman. The only eye witness had given conflicting testimonies, Martin said, questioning Accursio Venezia’s reliability.
Accursio Venezia said the deposition was wrong, and that Copeland had stood right at the glass.
Cellmate testifies
As the trial continued Thursday, prosecution called Tyrell Mobley, a former cellmate of Copeland’s, who said the defendant had confided to him while they were both in jail.
Mobley said Copeland told him he got a gun and got a ride to the Venezia residence from a friend late May 18, 2011, and that he rang the doorbell a few times and then ran around to the back of the house. When he saw Accursio Venezia, Copeland said he shot his gun a few times, according to Mobley’s testimony.
During cross examination, Martin questioned Mobley’s reliability. She read from a letter Mobley wrote to prosecutors saying he could give information on this and other cases. He just wanted to reduce his 18-year sentence, Mobley said in his letter.
“The whole idea is so you wouldn’t be in prison anymore?” Martin asked.
“Yes,” Mobley said.
Mobley said he was also testifying to “do the right thing,” and that his lawyer told him he might not get any reduction in his sentence for his testimony.
“You’d do anything to get out of prison?” Martin asked.
Mobley paused, and then answered in the affirmative.
The prosecutor, Johnson, rose and asked Mobley if he’d lie to do so.
“No, sir,” Mobley said.
Johnson also called crime scene and forensics analysts to witness. According to testimonies, shell casings found at the crime scene matched bullets in the gun Copeland allegedly had the night of the shooting, and gunshot residue was found on one of Copeland’s shirts.
This means either Copeland was near a gun that was shot, he shot a firearm himself or he came into contact with a surface or object that already had residue on it, the expert said.
But defense alleged that there was insufficient evidence to link Copeland to the crime itself. None of the biological evidence collected meant Copeland had been the one to shoot the gun, she said.
Copeland’s trial is expected to run at least through Saturday.
