Man accused of killing Horry County mother had violent history and short fuse, family says
A man accused of killing his mother in her Horry County home has a violent criminal history and was known by family to lash out, according to his sister.
Colby Kopacz, 29, is accused of killing his mother, Amy Kopacz, 55, on Saturday, authorities said. He was arrested in Pensacola, Florida and will be extradited to Horry County, where he will be formally charged with murder, according to Horry County police spokesperson Mikayla Moskov.
Amy Kopacz was found dead in her Little River home, where she lived with her son. The Horry County Coroner’s Office said she died from injuries sustained in an assault, though an official cause of death will not be determined until an autopsy is completed.
Holly Kopacz — Colby Kopacz’s sister — told The Sun News that her brother was living with his mother when he allegedly killed her.
Holly Kopacz said her brother is short-tempered and has a violent history that caused most family members to cut ties with him.
“Colby has a long track record of violence and lashing out when he doesn’t get what he wants,” Holly Kopacz said.
“The only one who had any faith in him and that he may one day change was my mom,” she said.
Holly Kopacz would not say whether Colby Kopacz had assaulted his mother before, nor what happened leading up to the deadly assault last weekend.
Police and court records in Horry County and Santa Rosa County, Florida outline Kopacz’s violent criminal history dating to 2010.
It’s a history that his older sister is all too familiar with, and that she said caused her and her daughter to move to another state.
“I live in Florida because I needed to move my children away from the area,” Holly Kopacz said. “I refuse to allow them anywhere near him.”
Holly Kopacz called her brother short-tempered and said he is known for using manipulative behavior to get what he wants at the expense of others.
“He’s a drug addict,” she said. “I consider him a charming Charlie — he knows how to say, what to say and who to say it to to make himself out as the victim . . . He had people that supported his habits. He spent a good deal of his time conditioning and manipulating people and he was good at it. He’s always been good at it.”
Holly Kopacz would not say what drugs her brother used. She said that the only people he had in his corner were those who supported his lifestyle and his mother, who had faith in him and believed he would change his ways.
“He had a bunch of gang-banger friends that are in the same lifestyle,” she said.
Colby Kopacz’s criminal convictions in South Carolina and Florida are as follows:
Horry County
January 2010 — assault and battery — convicted
March 2010 — assault and battery — convicted
February 2012 — arson — convicted
July 2013 — possession of marijuana — convicted
October 2013 — criminal domestic violence — convicted
January 2016 — two counts third-degree assault and battery — convicted
May 2019 — fugitive charges — pending
Santa Rosa County, Florida
March 2018 — second-degree battery — convicted
Horry County Warrants
According to an arrest warrant, Colby Kopacz entered a residence at an address on the 4000 block of Little River Inn Lane in December 2014 and assaulted two people inside. Both victims’ names are redacted from the police record.
The warrant states that Colby Kopacz pushed a man onto a bed, held him down, raised a closed fist, and threatened to kill him “due to not receiving $5 he asked for.”
He then threatened to kill a woman inside the home, raising a closed fist to her before throwing a clothes iron at her and the man, the report states.
In October, Amy Kopacz was found dead in her home on the 4000 block of Little River Inn Lane, where her son lived with her since her husband died almost two months ago due to COVID-19 complications.
July 2011, Colby Kopacz was charged with three counts of arson by Horry County police. The arrest warrants state that he and one other person went to a wooded area off of S.C. Highway 9 in the Longs area and struck a match that burned Palmetto Greens Golf Course. Horry County court records show that Colby Kopacz had several warrants for his arrest issued by North Myrtle Beach police, although those records were not made immediately available to The Sun News.
Holly Kopacz said she wished she could have done more for her mother. Now, all she wants is justice.
“The most important thing for us is that light be shed on this situation and [that] justice happens for my mom. And that means him (Colby Kopacz) never seeing the light of day again,” she said.
“We absolutely know what happened. He’s on his own. We just want the opportunity to sit in the courtroom and let him know that he’s on his own.”
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 2:17 PM.
