Florida man suspected of killing jailed in Peach County on arson, burglary charges
A Florida man suspected of killing his girlfriend and dumping her body near a Georgia river is jailed on burglary and arson charges in Peach County, the sheriff says.
Authorities here got word last week from Florida officials that Jeffery Michael Morrison, 42, of Tampa might be headed this way, said Peach County Sheriff Terry Deese.
"It was just kind of bizarre in that he was suspected of this murder, and everybody up here was kind of all hands on deck when we were told he could possibly be up here looking for somebody else to kill," Deese said. "Warner Robins, Houston. Everybody was working together on that to try and get him rounded up."
At the time, Morrison was a person of interest in the June 19 disappearance of Mitzi Marie Babb, 43, a Hernando County, Florida, park ranger, and Babb's body had not yet been found.
A deputy dispatched to the Peach County home of Morrison's ex-sister-in-law found that it had been burglarized and a hole just a little smaller than the size of a hood of a car had been burned into the living room carpet, Deese said. Two guns had been stolen from the home.
A black car Morrison was known to drive was seen in the area. But Morrison was not found.
That same night, Morrison drove up to a weigh station on Interstate 75 in Florida and told authorities he'd killed his girlfriend and dumped her in a river Camden County, Deese said.
Monday, he was extradited back to Georgia on the burglary and arson charges, with additional charges expected in the slaying of his girlfriend after jurisdictional issues can be worked out, Deese said.
Georgia and Florida authorities also are working together to determine where the killing took place, Deese said.
On June 20, the Hernando County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office asked for help from the public on Facebook in locating Babb, who was last seen at work about 5 p.m. the previous day.
The next day, Hernando County, Florida, sheriff's detectives identified Morrison as a person of interest in Babb's disappearance and asked for the public's help on Facebook in also locating Morrison. That morning, Houston County authorities notified the Peach County Sheriff's Office that Morrison could possibly be in the area, Deese said.
Florida authorities had an Arrowhead Trail address that they thought was in Warner Robins, which does have a street named Arrowhead Trail. When that didn't pan out, they learned that there was an Arrowhead Trail in Peach County, and a Houston County deputy was dispatched to see if the black Kia Soul Morrison was believed to be driving was parked outside, Deese said.
The Peach County residence that the deputy was sent to is on a long driveway that dead-ends at the house.
"As the deputy gets to the road, some people flag him down and tell him, 'Somebody's kicked the door down and burglarized my house down there,' and the deputy asks them what the street address was and he realized that was the address they were looking for," Deese said.
That led the deputy to summon Peach County authorities to the scene and deputies found the burglarized home and fire damage and learned that Morrison's car had been seen at the residence.
"That night, I think, is when he pulled up to a weigh station in Florida and basically told the people there that you all are looking for me. I have killed my girlfriend," Deese said.
Morrison was taken into custody at the White Plains Agricultural Weigh Station on I-75 in Hamilton County, Florida, where he told authorities he'd killed his girlfriend and "had dumped her body over a bridge," according to a Hamilton County, Florida, Sheriff's Office case/charge report. Morrison just pulled into the weigh station and said, "You guys might be looking for me," said Camden County sheriff's Lt. Larry Bruce.
The Camden County Emergency 911 Center got the call from officers at the weigh station about 9 p.m. about the woman's body, according to a Camden County Sheriff's Office news release.
Camden County sheriff's deputies began to search the area.
On Friday, at daybreak, Camden County sheriff's deputies, Georgia Department of Natural Resources officers, Camden County Emergency Management personnel and Florida officers from the Agricultural Inspection Station began searching the marshes and waterways along Crooked River. A GNR helicopter's crew members spotted a body in the edge of the marsh west of the Interstate 95 Crooked River Bridge. Babb's body was recovered about 10:30 a.m.
Sheriff's investigators for Camden County and Hamilton County, Florida, are working together to determine where Babb was killed, while district attorneys from each jurisdiction are working together determine where the case should be prosecuted, Bruce said.
Charges are pending in connection with the killing, he said.
This story was originally published June 27, 2018 at 5:47 PM.