Birmingham police are continuing their search for Julian Morris, who is considered a person of interest in the murder of his partner, Deundray Cottrell. According to Birmingham police, Cottrell was reported missing on the Fourth of July evening. He and his partner, Julian Morris, had traveled from Atlanta to visit family and friends.
The following day, authorities announced that they had located clothing items belonging to the 31-year-old and used surveillance footage to narrow down a specific location. Subsequently, they made a disturbing discovery.
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“Saturday, July 6, we narrowed our search, and sadly we discovered his body in a detached storage shed at a house,” Officer Truman Fitzgerald said. Birmingham Police Officer Truman Fitzgerald stated that the video footage played a crucial role in the investigation. “We knew early on the last person to see and hear from him, which was Mr. Julian Morris. We have still yet to either speak to Julian or see Julian. He is the missing piece to this puzzle. So, we have to locate Julian. There are a lot of questions we have for him,” Fitzgerald said.
“We know what [Deundray] would want us to do, so we are doing what he would want us to do. We are sticking together and loving on each other because that’s what he would do for us,” Shackleford said.
At nearly 5 p.m. on Wednesday, a statement was sent to FOX 5 Atlanta from the office of Victor Revill, a Birmingham attorney representing Morris, who police have been searching for.
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“Mr. Morris is a college-educated veteran whom has served his country faithfully as a Marine. He has no prior misdemeanor or felony convictions. Despite the false narratives that are being promulgated about him in this situation, he loved Deundray Cottrell and is currently grieving the death of his loved one. Mr. Morris wants answers as well and is awaiting those answers after a full and thorough investigation has been completed. Under the advice of counsel, he will not be giving any further statements at this time.”
