Teen Indicted for Gruesome Stabbing: 15-Year-Old Faces Charges in 93-Stab Attack

A Tennessee grand jury has indicted a teenager, who was 15 at the time of the crime, for allegedly stabbing a 13-year-old girl 93 times along a trail and subsequently boasting about the act to his girlfriend as his “first body.”

Malakiah Harris, now aged 16, faces charges of first-degree murder for the tragic death of Savannah Copeland near Knoxville. Earlier this year, a judge ruled that Harris will be prosecuted as an adult.

According to reports, Savannah had allegedly sneaked out of her home in the early hours of October 22, 2024, to meet with Harris and his brother to acquire a vape.

In a statement to detectives, Harris claimed, “I turned around and she was coming at me,” as reported by local NBC affiliate WBIR.

However, investigators concluded that Savannah, who was just over 5 feet tall, did not pose a threat to Harris. The suspect is alleged to have continued the vicious attack even as Savannah attempted to flee and fell to the ground. After the assault, Harris and his brother reportedly left her body at the scene and returned home.

“All you need to know is it was self-defense,” Harris allegedly told his brother.

Savannah’s twin brother and Harris’ brother were friends, per cops.

Harris went to school the next day, where he allegedly told his then-girlfriend, “I got my first body.” He allegedly admitted to stabbing someone but did not identify the victim. He also texted a buddy the “deed is done” on the night of the slaying, cops say.

Savannah’s mother reported her missing when she realized she was not in the home that morning, detectives said, per WBIR.

There’s no known motive for the alleged murder, which does not sit well with Savannah’s father.

“I have — I guess you can say — a horrible, horrible fear that there’s not gonna be any kind of real motive and so there’s not gonna be a good answer to any of this, and that part breaks my heart as much as anything, and certainly if there’s other people who are involved or who were neglectful,” Michael Copeland told local CBS affiliate WVLT.

Savannah was a student at Powell Middle School and had hoped to attend the University of Tennessee to study forensic anthropology.

“She loved her family, she loved her friends, and she loved art,” her obituary said.