Court upholds murder convictions, sentences

Published 10:00 am Thursday, September 14, 2017

ATLANTA — The Georgia Supreme Court upheld the convictions and life sentences Wednesday of men involved in two separate South Georgia murders.

Maurilio M. Martinez , 44, was sentenced in 2013 to life plus 20 years in Lowndes County Superior Court for the rape and murder of Joy Morris, 47, a Kentucky woman who had stopped to rest in Lake Park on Halloween 2002.

It took roughly five years for investigators to obtain a DNA sample from Martinez, an immigrant who had been living in Lake Park under an assumed named with few identifying documents, according to the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s detectives determined DNA collected from Martinez matched evidence collected by the sheriff’s office during its probe into the death of Morris, according to reports.

In 2009, Martinez was found to be living in Casselberry, Fla., and had been arrested there for offenses unrelated to this investigation, according to reports. In 2010, the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office and the Casselberry Police Department led a joint inquiry into Morris’ death.

An arrest warrant was obtained for Martinez for the offenses of murder and rape, based on information gleaned from the joint investigation and the match in DNA samples, according to reports. Martinez was charged in the death on Feb. 8, 2010, and returned to Lowndes County.

Morris’ body was discovered Friday, Nov. 1, 2002, inside her vehicle, which was parked in a wooded area near a motel in the 6900 block of Lake Park’s Lake Park-Bellville Road, according to reports.

Morris, a Madisonville, Ky., native and escort driver, had just completed a business trip to West Palm Beach, Fla., and was headed north on the interstate to drive escort for a truck in Lowndes County, according to a 2010 report by The Valdosta Daily Times.

In a separate case, the high court upheld the conviction and life sentence of Truseno Neely, 34, a Greeneville, Fla., a man charged with felony murder in the shooting death of Shelton Brooks, 39, whose body was found Nov. 5, 2011.

Quitman Police Chief Wesley Ross said someone called police requesting a welfare check on Brooks. When police arrived at his apartment, he was found deceased.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.