Background: News footage from the scene after Tony Morris killed his wife, Kathleen Morris, on Aug. 26, 2024 (WAPT). Inset: Tony Morris (Hinds County Sheriff”s Office).
A Mississippi man who told 911 dispatchers that he shot his wife of 31 years is now going to prison for her murder.
Tony Morris, 67, was found guilty by a jury on Wednesday after going on trial for the first-degree murder of his wife, 64-year-old Kathleen Morris. According to reporting by local ABC affiliate WAPT, Hinds County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the couple’s home in Terry, Mississippi at about 7:15 a.m. on the morning of Aug. 26, 2024 and found Kathleen Morris dead from a gunshot wound to her upper body.
The one who called 911 to report the shooting was her estranged husband, Tony Morris.
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WAPT spoke at the scene to the brother of Tony Morris, who told the station that the couple were in the process of getting a divorce. Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones confirmed that Tony Morris “did call into dispatch and state that he shot his wife.”
Tony Morris was taken into custody and named the sole suspect.
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While no specific reason was given for the shooting, Hinds County District Attorney Jodi E. Owens II stated, “A single moment of anger ended a 31-year marriage and took a life. Kathleen Morris lost her life during a moment of escalation that should have never happened.”
Owens added, “This case is an example of how quickly violence can overtake reason, and why prevention matters just as much as prosecution. As a community, this is why we must create space for people to ask for help, and support systems that respond before violence becomes the outcome.”
Tony Morris was convicted of deliberate design murder and sentenced to life in prison in the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
