On October 3, 2023, at about 4:30 p.m. in Dunlap, Tennessee, 64-year-old Marcella Marcy Renee Ervin was found dead inside her Windridge Drive home after a distress call to the Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Office. The caller, her 63-year-old husband Keith Edward Kopecky, told dispatchers he had just shot his wife. Officers discovered Ervin deceased and took Kopecky into custody at the scene without resistance.

Ervin, originally from Decatur, Illinois, worked for nearly 40 years with Prairie Cardiovascular in Springfield, Illinois, in both office and remote roles. She was also a musician and a published writer. Survivors include her daughter, two grandchildren, her mother, and siblings. On October 18, 2023, Kopecky appeared in General Sessions Court; bond was set at $250,000 with GPS monitoring, monthly reporting, and surrender of firearms and ammunition. The case was bound over to the Sequatchie County Grand Jury.

If anyone knew Marcella Ervin or has information about what happened that afternoon, please come forward to assist the ongoing legal process.