In a Town of Pretenders, Two Deaths Outed Them All
The deaths of Corinne and Jayne Peters shocked the sleepy suburb of Coppell, Texas.
This story is one of loss, but it’s also about a place, my hometown. Coppell, a white, upper-middle-class suburb, sits between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Friday nights roar with football, children play at the quaintly named Kid Kountry, and the smell of barbecue drips out into the street from Hard-8.
I came of age in that town. The people ooze beauty, money, and cookie-cutter perfection. Your home, clothing, and children are all part of the adornments to offer up as status symbols. The underbelly of a town like Coppell is it’s not clear who’s rich and who’s pretending. Your neighbor could be a millionaire or one paycheck away from bankruptcy.
One such family was The Peters. In July 2010, Coppell made national news. Corinne Peters, a soon-to-be freshman at the University of Texas, and her mother, Jayne Peters, the mayor of Coppell, were found dead of gunshot wounds.
Tragedy seemed to be following the Peters family; the husband/father, Donald Peters, died of colon cancer in 2008. His illness + the loss of income bore a mounting pile of bills and imminent foreclosure on their $400,000 home. Both of which were unbeknownst to Corinne. A broken…
