A man shot his 6-year-old daughter multiple times in the head Thursday before fatally shooting himself, Winston-Salem police said in a news release Friday.
Winston-Salem police found the girl, Iza Lily Morris, and her father, Derek Morris, shortly after 3:30 p.m. Thursday in the girl's bedroom at a house in the 5300 block of Old Rural Hall Road in northeastern Winston-Salem. Derek and his wife, Sarah A. Morris, owned the house, according to Forsyth County tax records. Sarah Morris was out of town when the shooting happened.
Iza Morris died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head, according to preliminary autopsy results released Friday. Derek Morris died from a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, autopsy results showed. Police seized a .38-caliber handgun from the crime scene.
Lt. Rob Cozart of the Winston-Salem Police Department said the couple were estranged. Sarah Morris had recently told her husband that she was leaving him and seeking full custody of their daughter, Cozart said.
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"We haven't found any evidence that anyone else was involved," he said.
Derek Morris had told several people that he was upset about his wife leaving him and was afraid that he would lose custody of his daughter. Cozart said Morris was disabled and not working because of a head injury.
Sarah Morris had been in Georgia dealing with the death of a family member, her sister told WGHP/Fox 8, the Winston-Salem Journal's newsgathering partner. The sister declined to give her name. She said that the couple were not separated at the time of the shooting.
Cozart said police had not been called out to the house previously and that no domestic-violence protective orders had been filed with the court system.
The investigation hasn't shown that anyone else was involved, Cozart said. The probe continues.
Iza Morris' death is the 13th homicide the Winston-Salem police have investigated this year. Winston-Salem had eight homicides by this time last year.
This is also the second murder-suicide in the past month. In October, Fredrick McClinton shot his wife, Ashley McGill, in the head and then killed himself.
Anyone with information concerning this case should contact the Winston-Salem Police Department at (336) 773-7708 or Crime Stoppers at (336) 727-2800.
