New details emerge in Flatwoods shooting
Nov. 10—FLATWOODS — An arrest warrant filed in last week's murder in Flatwoods shows gum shoe detective work and a cooperating witness brought the suspected shooter to justice.
Daniel J. Morgan, 29, of Flatwoods, is currently charged with murder in the Nov. 3 death of Kurtis Carter in the 2700 block of Reed Street, according to a warrant filed in Greenup County District Court.
The Shooting
The warrant states Flatwoods Police received multiple calls on the night of the shooting — one reported gunshots, while the other reported a man lying in the driveway of a mobile home, records show.
When police arrived at the scene, they found Carter lying in the driveway, with several gunshot wounds — officers recovered bullet casings in the front yard, records show.
The victim's girlfriend reported to police she had seen a red sports car speed off following the shooting, records show.
Two days later, a man called to report a tip to police — records show he was calling on behalf of a witness who might have had information in the case.
The witness, who wished to remain anonymous, told officers he had loaned Morgan his car on the night of the shooting, the warrant states — a red sports car, to be exact, according to police.
Police performed a controlled phone call with the witness, wherein Morgan reassured him his car had not been spotted and he had nothing to worry about, records show. Police further corroborated the witness' story through surveillance footage at the Russell Lowe's and the Ashland Sonic showing Morgan driving the car, records show.
Police reinterviewed the witnesses at Carter's home — apparently, Morgan was visiting at the time of the shooting. The ear-witnesses reported Carter stepped outside and was followed by Morgan, records show.
That's when they heard gunshots, records show.
On paper
At the time of the shooting, court records show Morgan was on probation in Greenup County and under supervision by the Ohio Department of Corrections for a 2012 car chase that spilled across state lines when he was 19 years old.
In the early morning hours of April 21, 2012, a Russell Police officer radioed Raceland PD about a possible DUI suspect entering the city limits. When a Raceland officer attempted to stop the black Chevy pickup truck, police said the driver — Morgan — spun his tires and kicked gravel onto the cruiser. Morgan commenced a high-speed pursuit down U.S. 23 toward Russell, at speeds reaching 80 mph, according to a police report at the time.
After hitting spike strips, Morgan continued to run, ramming his truck into a police cruiser, narrowly missing a gas pump and taking the chase across the Russell-Ironton Bridge.
As the chase wound its way through Ironton, the truck's tires continued to lose air. Ironton Police got involved, helping corral the pickup truck.
Police reports show Morgan rammed the Raceland officer six more times before the officer conducted a pit manuever (after being run off the road by Morgan) and put the suspect's truck into a ditch.
Even after that, Morgan still tried to back his truck out, attempting to run over police approaching his vehicle. With guns drawn, officers pulled Morgan out of the truck.
Police found evidence of a mobile meth lab inside the truck.
In July 2012, Morgan was convicted of three counts of felony assault, one count of illegal manufacture of drugs and one count of failure to comply with a lawful police order in Ohio. A Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas Judge sent him up for eight years in prison, with 73 days jail credit.
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction records show Morgan served his time at the Ross Correctional Institution outside of Chillicothe and was released on April 17, 2020, almost eight years to the day of the incident.
At the time of his release, correction records show he was to be supervised for five years. Greenup County authorities snatched him up to stand charges in Kentucky and on July 16, 2020, he pleaded guilty to seven counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, one count of first-degree fleeing and evading, one count of first-degree criminal mischief and a misdemeanor charge.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, to be probated for five years. According to a plea agreement in his court records, the reasoning behind the probation was because he had already served nearly a decade for the same incident in Ohio.
The shooting isn't the first time he's gotten into trouble since leaving Ross Correctional.
Records show Morgan was charged in December 2020 in Boyd County with misdemeanor shoplifting less than $500 in value. On June 28, 2021, he was found guilty on the charge and given 90 days in jail, to be probated for two years unsupervised.
On Aug. 25, he was charged in Greenup County with felony receiving stolen property after officers found him with a pilfered 2013 Ford Fusion in the parking lot of the Flatwoods SuperQuik, according to court records.
A the time of his arrest on the present charge, was out on bond in the car case.
(606) 326-2653 — henry@dailyindependent.com
