Man accused of murder after the woman’s body found in Tampa Drive-Thru

A man faces a murder position after a woman was found dead on the path of a fast food restaurant Tampa last summer.

Michael Canty, 54, was accused on Friday of second degree murder and manipulation of physical evidence in relation to the death of Dawn Morrison, 48, said the Sheriff’s office of Hillsborough County in a press release.

The investigation began shortly after 10 in the morning of June 18, when a person called 911 informed having seen a partially buried body in the church chicken drive-thru in 2219 E. Fletcher Ave., according to the press release. The body was identified as Morrison, and a coroner determined that he had suffered trauma at the top of the body. His death was governed as homicide.

According to judicial records, Canty and Morrison were seen in a surveillance video walking towards the garbage container area of ​​a McDonald’s close shortly after 11:30 pm on June 15. Approximately 15 minutes later, both are seen leaving the container area and walking north through the chicken chicken traffic.

Around 11:54 pm, you can hear a female voice shouting: “Leave it! Release it “, followed by strong shouts of” Help! “About 48 seconds later, Church’s Chickn cameras lost energy and stopped transmitting video, according to records.

During the next two hours, the surveillance images captured Canty going and coming between the Church Drive-Thru and the McDonald’s garbage container, according to the records. No other people were seen entering or leaving the church drive-thru.

During that time, according to the records, Canty changed her clothes. According to the authorities, the pants that he changed and the black boots that he was wearing before, during and after Morrison’s death, had blood stains that contained the DNA of his and Morrison.

On February 6, Canty was arrested by unrelated positions of not informing a change of name or address as a sexual offender. A few days later, the detectives asked him about Morrison’s death.

According to judicial records, Canty said it went to church chicken parking lot to smoke crack with Morrison. Initially he denied having gone to Drive-Thru with her, but after watching the surveillance video, he said it was possible and did not remember. He also identified in a video leaving the McDonald’s shortly after changing his clothes.

Canty “denied having killed the victim and had no explanation of how his blood would be in his boots or pants,” the records say.

Canty “knowingly and intentionally killed the victim and then buried her under Mulch to hinder the discovery of her body,” prosecutors wrote. “Because the defendant hid the victim’s body, his remains were not discovered for two days.”

The records show that Canty was detained in the Falkenburg Road prison without bail. Prosecutors have presented a motion that seeks to keep it in jail pending trial.