2 men die by suicide after Lee County deputies respond to separate calls same day
Two men died by suicide after deputies responded to separate calls, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday.
In the first case, the LCSO received a 911 call around 6:57 p.m. Tuesday about a domestic incident where the suspect was trying to set a vehicle on fire, according to the news release.
The LCSO said deputies responded about 10 minutes later to the 100 block of Lee Road 831 in the Salem community, where they saw the suspect’s vehicle leaving the scene.
An attempted traffic stop of the vehicle led to a chase, which ended when the driver stopped at the intersection of Lee Road 241 and Lee Road 240, where deputies were waiting, according to the LCSO.
The news release says the driver shot himself while seated in the vehicle. Deputies observed a single gunshot wound to the head from what appeared to be a handgun that was in the vehicle, according to the news release.
The LCSO identified the deceased as 54-year-old Billy Harold Morris Jr. of Phenix City.
Second incident
The second incident occurred after LCSO deputies attempted to serve a search warrant Tuesday night in the 100 block of Lee Road 2222, according to another news release.
Investigators attempted to serve a search warrant around 8:27 p.m. in reference to a sexual assault of a juvenile under the age of 18, the LCSO said.
“Before investigators could enter, a single gunshot was heard coming from the back of the residence,” the news release says.
Investigators backed away from the residence’s door and waited for additional personnel to arrive, according to the LCSO.
The LCSO said entry was made a few minutes later, when the suspect, Charles Jantsin Murphy, 35, was found dead in his bed with a possible single gunshot wound to the head.
The Opelika Police Department was contacted to assist with each investigation, according to the news releases.
“It is standard procedure for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to contact an outside agency to investigate a case whenever a firearm has been discharged in the presence of Lee County deputies,” both news releases say.
Lee County Sheriff responds
Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones told the Ledger-Enquirer resources are available for the deputy sheriffs and personnel exposed to situations like those that occurred Tuesday night. Jones said suspects committing suicide is not “very common” but it does happen.
“In most cases we’re able to effect an arrest or take action without the result that we had last night,” Jones said.
When asked whether the sheriff’s office would review the incidents, Jones said, “We look at everything we’re involved in and take a look at the elements and see if there are lessons we can learn.”
“We want to make sure that we learn from whatever circumstance, and in many cases we may find that everything was done the way it should’ve been done and it was just one of those things that would have been extremely difficult to prevent,” he said.
Jones said he can’t recall two suicides of suspects happening within such a short period of time and geographic location. Jones stressed the sheriff’s office is 100% sure the two incidents are not connected in any way.
These cases will be presented to a grand jury for their consideration as a standard practice, Jones said.