New Jersey

Man Charged After Sister-in-Law, 9-Year-Old Niece Found Axed to Death in NJ Home: UCPO

Everoy L. Morrison was charged with killing his sister-in-law and niece last month in a brutal ax attack that left the town of Roselle shocked

NBC Universal, Inc.

What to Know

  • A 44-year-old man was charged with the double murder of his sister-in-law and niece after the two were found axed to death in their homes last month, according to local prosecutors.
  • Everoy L. Morrison was charged Monday with two counts of first-degree murder and a number of weapons counts in the April murders of 45-year-old Keisha Morrison and her daughter Kelsey Morrison, Union County authorities announced
  • The charges stem from events that came to light April 18. It was on that day, just before noon, that Roselle Police Officers were called to a home on West 7th Avenue following a report of two missing persons. A subsequent search uncovered the bodies.

A 44-year-old man was charged with the double murder of his sister-in-law and niece after the two were found axed to death in their homes last month, according to local prosecutors.

Everoy L. Morrison was charged Monday with two counts of first-degree murder and a number of weapons counts in the April murders of 45-year-old Keisha Morrison and her 9-year-old daughter Kelsey Morrison, Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel and Roselle Police Chief Stacey Williams jointly announced. If convicted, Everoy faces up to life in prison.

Attorney information was not immediately known.

The charges stem from events that came to light April 18. It was on that day, just before noon, that Roselle Police Officers were called to a home on West 7th Avenue following a report of two missing persons.

A subsequent search uncovered the bodies of Keisha and Kelsey, according to prosecutors.

Initially, following the gruesome discovery, prosecutors declined to provide additional details on the two people discovered dead in the Roselle home. It was that same day when young Kelsey did not show up for school — and no one had heard from her mother, Keisha.

Keisha's husband Gary, Everoy's brother, raced home to investigate and found bloody sheets in his bedroom, his sister Atasha Scott told NBC New York. Police responded to the home and discovered the bodies of the mother and daughter under a bed, with Scott saying the killer "wrapped them up in bed sheets, stuffed them under my niece's bed."

The devastated husband and father found what appeared to be the murder weapon, a bloody ax, stuffed between two mattresses in his bedroom. The Union County Prosecutor's Office previously said that autopsies conducted confirmed the manner of death was homicide.

"On the floor, it seemed like somebody was trying to clean up blood, like it was swirled around," Scott previously told NBC New York.

Before police responded to the home, Everoy took off in Keisha's brand new BMW, which she had just bought a week ago. A law enforcement source said police tracked the car to Maryland, where Evory Morrison was arrested for stealing the car.

He had been living in the basement of the home for more than two years, but was recently told to move out, although he hadn't done so yet at the time of the brutal killings.

"I can’t go into details exactly what occurred, but I can tell you she was uncomfortable and neither were nieces with him being in the home, in the basement," Scott said.

The family appeared to be suspicious of the brother, and said he may have been envious of Gary's life.

"[Keisha's] birthday just passed on the 6th. We went partying — she, my brother and I — for her birthday, her birthday month. This guy was jealous of my brother and what he had. He wanted what he had," said Scott, who added that Kelsey would have turned 10 years old shortly after her death.

"My daughter and her are best friends, I don’t know what I’m going to tell her," she said.

Chopper 4 captured an active scene at the private residence, with about a half-dozen cars lining the block outside it and a black SUV parked in the driveway. Yellow caution tape cordoned off the sprawling front lawn as investigators gathered in the street.

“We are appreciative of the collaboration with the local and Maryland law enforcement agencies who assisted our Office in locating and apprehending the suspect,” Daniel said following Monday's announcement of the charges. “And we hope that this arrest can bring some small measure of comfort to all those grieving Keisha and Kelsey.”

The Union County prosecutor's office said an investigation was ongoing.

Contact Us