Hours passed. Authorities believe the trio dropped the girls off, then made their way down Highway 61, not far behind Troy Morris. Morris, meanwhile, had pulled over and tried to report his flat tire to the mail service. When that didn\u2019t work, he called Troop M, his highway patrol substation. While he was talking with the dispatcher, a vehicle turned around and stopped beside Morris\u2019 truck. It was the three young men. Norman and Washington remained inside while the driver, Damion Whittley, stepped out and walked up to Morris\u2019 window. Investigators believe he asked for a cigarette or a light. It\u2019s likely Morris had both. He was fond of smoking.<\/p>\n
When Whittley walked back to his vehicle, he got a gun. Whatever happened next left Morris dead. Life as they\u2019d known it vanished for the other three men, too, right along with their tail lights as they sped off into the night.<\/p>\n
No one can say for sure whether Morris knew Whittley or if Whittley knew him. Most folks around town assumed the motive was robbery. But according to Mark Cochran, owner of Blackwell Hauling, the company that contracted for the postal service, the trucks carried only packages and letters. \u201cNo money,\u201d Cochran \u00admaintains. \u201cEverybody knows that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whatever the motive, Morris\u2019 death was a deeply felt loss, especially at his workplace. Just as calls for defunding police began wreaking havoc on officer recruitment and retention, Troop M lost a career patrolman, a supervisor with 28 years of experience. It also lost a dispatcher. In her last exchange with him that night, the \u00addispatcher heard Morris talking with his killer. It was too much. She quit.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n "Indifference to life is growing like malignant cancer," writes @kimhenderson319<\/a> in our cover story.<\/p>\n Read how one murder in rural Mississippi underscores the nation\u2019s struggle to contain violent crime:https:\/\/t.co\/pnSfMA3DyR<\/a><\/p>\n — WORLD (@WNGdotorg) September 27, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n