OH - Michelle Morrison, 26, Washington Court House, 1 Jan 2006

Michelle Morrison’s children are too little to understand how she could be there wishing them a happy New Year one minute and gone the next, beaten and left for dead inside a nearby empty house.

Mrs. Arledge said her son — the father of two of Morrison’s five children — had agreed to baby-sit while Morrison, 26, went out for New Year’s Eve.

Morrison came back to her house around 12:30 a.m. "to say happy New Year," then left again, Mrs. Arledge said.

Four hours later, police said, they were notified that a woman had been assaulted and needed medical help at 221 Walnut St.

When officers arrived, they looked through a window and saw Morrison lying on the floor. They forced their way through a locked door and found her unresponsive, with "visible signs of injury about the head, possibly as a result of blunt force," Lt. Jeffrey Ruth said in a news release.

A dispatcher said she could not explain how officers were notified, but that no 911 calls had been received.

Morrison’s body was sent to Montgomery County for an autopsy.
http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/01/02/20060102-D1-02.html

I do not trust myself to comment on this case, other than to say it is very sad for all those children.

What a sad, sad story. My heart aches for those babies who will never know their mother.

A man who called police to report the possible slaying of his wife's friend has been arrested and charged with killing the 26-year-old mother of five, police said.
Police said Joshua L. Smith, 24, contacted them around 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 1 to report that he thought he saw a man hit Michelle Morrison and saw her fall down outside a vacant house. Officers found Morrison's body inside the locked house in Washington Court House, about 45 miles southwest of Columbus.
A preliminary autopsy report indicates she was strangled, police Lt. Jeffrey Ruth said.
During the investigation, Smith gave information that turned out to be false, police said. Investigators questioned the man Smith said struck Morrison, but he denied the accusations and a witness confirmed his story.
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/13634276.htm

I confess, I thought the ex did it, since he was at the home with the children. Just goes to show that you cannot assume guilt.
Still I wonder what the motive or reason for the murder was?

CASE: State of Ohio v. Joshua L. Smith
CASE NO: Fayette CA2006-08-030
PANEL: Presiding Judge James E. Walsh, Judges William W. Young and Stephen W. Powell
JUDGMENT: Affirmed

snip

In the early morning hours of January 1, 2006, the Washington Court House Police Department received a call from Joshua Smith reporting that he been a witness to the murder of Michelle Morrison. After investigating Smith's report, the police discovered the lifeless body of Morrison located in a bedroom of a vacant home where Smith had previously resided. Following the police investigation, Smith was arrested and indicted for Morrison's murder. A jury returned a verdict of guilty and Smith was sentenced to serve a mandatory term of 15 years in prison.

Appeal at link:
http://www.twelfth.courts.state.oh.us/Press/20090120[Fayette[CA2006-08-030[State%20v.%20Smith[.pdf
____________________________________________

Joshua L. Smith

Housed: Ross Correctional Institution
Admission Date: 07/17/2006

Offense: Murder
Sentence: 15 years - Life

First Parole Hearing: 11/2020