Teen called 911 to confess to killing a woman: Prosecutors
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Background: The location in Tampa, Fla. where Andie Morrell”s body was found on Sept. 19 (Google Maps). Inset (left): Justin Hawker (Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office). Inset (right): Andie Morrell (Facebook).

A Florida teenager has been charged with murder after he called 911 to tell dispatchers that he was “involved in a homicide.”

Justin Hawker, 17, was arrested on Sept. 20 after prosecutors said he voluntarily placed a 911 call asking for police assistance, telling the dispatcher, “I was involved in a homicide” at his home address. According to court documents reviewed by Law&Crime, Hawker made the call after police came to his house to question him about a missing woman, 37-year-old Andie Morrell. Morrell’s body was found “wrapped in bedding and duct tape” in a vacant lot behind a building on Sept. 19.

According to court documents, Morrell was an exotic dancer who made “house visits,” as her roommate told police. Morrell was last heard from on the night of Sept. 10, when she texted her roommate to tell her that she was heading for Hawker’s home address.

After Morrell went missing, her family tracked her cellphone using a tracking app and found it at Hawker’s address, where it had been “stationary” since the night of Sept. 10.

Further investigation yielded a surveillance camera at the business where Morrell’s body was found. Camera footage from the morning of Sept. 11 showed a vehicle that had been reported stolen entering the parking lot. A male figure exited the driver’s side of the car; that person was found to match Hawker’s description.

According to the documents, the person who got out of the car was seen on camera carrying a gas can to where the body was found, pouring an “unknown liquid” on the body, and unsuccessfully trying to set it on fire. The car is later seen on another camera running into a median, and the driver appears to get out of the car, remove the license plates, and leave the area on foot.

After police identified Hawker as one of the residents at the address Morrell gave to her roommate, sheriff’s deputies questioned Hawker and his 15-year-old girlfriend, who both appeared “nervous.” While in the house, deputies noticed “the distinct smell of bleach” and observed several bleach stains on the carpet. The girlfriend told police that she “spilled bleach while cleaning.” An adult male whose name was also connected to the house was found to be on a cruise at the time of Morrell’s disappearance. His relationship with Hawker was not made clear.

When the Tampa Police Department obtained a warrant to search the home, investigators found several blood spots in the living room and an empty magazine that belonged to a firearm found in Hawker’s bedroom. Deputies also found clothing that matched the man on the surveillance video taken where Morrell’s body was found and a roll of duct tape.

Hawker was questioned by the deputies after being read his rights. He reportedly told police that on the night of Sept. 10, he went to a nearby playground “to look at the stars” and fell asleep there. When questioned about the bleach stains, he claimed that he was trying to clean another stain with the bleach. He eventually claimed he was “under the influence of mushrooms and wanted a lawyer.”

Two more witnesses spoke to police about Hawker’s activities. One was Hawker’s neighbor, who said he saw a Black woman fitting Morrell’s description on the front porch of Hawker’s home. The night she was there, he told police he heard “two loud bangs” come from the direction of his neighbor’s house that were consistent with gunshots.

An autopsy revealed that Morrell had a gunshot wound that perforated her aorta and right lung.

Another witness was a friend of Hawker’s girlfriend, who told police that the girlfriend called her using Instagram while at Hawker’s house. She showed the witness the firearm that was found in his room and told the witness she would tell her “everything.”

The same night, Hawker placed the 911 call that brought police directly to him. He was taken into custody and booked into the Hillsborough County Jail.

Hawker, who is being charged as an adult, faces one count of second-degree murder with a firearm and one count of tampering with evidence. During a court appearance on Wednesday, he was ordered to be held without bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 13.

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