Hendersonville business owners react to fatal stabbing, seek to reassure visitors

Warning: The details and visuals in this story may be disturbing to some readers and viewers.

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. — Saturday, Dec. 28 will mark six days since a man was stabbed to death in Hendersonville, just a few blocks away from a busy stretch of businesses.

On Thursday, Dec. 26 an owner of one of those businesses reacted to the attack and its impact on the area.

It happened just off Seventh Avenue East and Robinson Terrace in Hendersonville on Monday, Dec. 23 at night.

Police said the victim, 50-year-old Kevin Copelin was rushed to the hospital where he later died.

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“It is a terrible thing to happen in our neighborhood especially our neighborhood that’s not known for stuff like that,” said Liz Morin, who owns ‘The Yellow Cottage’ just a few blocks from where the stabbing took place.

The incident happened in a neighborhood where businesses are still recovering from Helene along with nearly a year of street closures along Seventh Avenue for construction.

“It certainly took us from having steady traffic flow to some days where nobody would come in,” Morin said. “I had a couple weeks where I didn’t have any sales.”

Morin added that her shop saw 40% fewer customers during the road closure, but the real knockout came after Helene.

“Once the hurricane hit, I would say it probably went to 90%. That was short-lived,” Morin said.

Morin is hopeful any concerns of violence from potential visitors to the area will be short-lived too.

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“I don’t think people should be afraid to come to 7th Avenue. I’ve never in my life seen this type of violence in this neighborhood,” said Morin.

If that’s not reassuring enough, Morin added that safety is taken seriously by neighboring business owners.

“We’ve got the police station right there at the corner on Ashe and we’ve got all the lit-up businesses,” said Morin.

Meantime, as police continue to hunt for a suspect, they’re urging anyone with any information about the attack to call them right away.