Published: March 10, 2008 06:10 pm            

Mental evaluation ordered in aggravated assault case

Morris accused sheriff’s officials of reading his letters

A state district judge has ordered a mental evaluation for a Tarrant County man, charged with assaulting a Commerce woman and holding her against her will in December.

Shane Allen Morris, 25, of Grand Prairie, remains in custody at the Hunt County Jail in lieu of a total of $56,000 in bonds for aggravated assault/family violence and three other charges. He has not yet been indicted on the charges, but appeared before 354th District Court Judge Richard A. Beacom March 5 for a status hearing.

Morris had written a letter to the court, complaining that other letters he had written from his jail cell were being opened and read by jail officials and that “sensitive” information he had included in the letters had been spread to the jail inmate population, leading to his life being put in danger and forcing him to be housed in segregation away from the jail population.

Following the hearing, Beacom ordered Morris to undergo the evaluation and set a new status hearing for March 19.

Morris was arrested on the morning of Dec. 27, 2007 after officers with the Commerce Police Department answered an emergency call at an apartment on Culver Street.

The alleged female victim met the officers in the lobby of the complex, indicating Morris had choked her and kicked her in the face while displaying a firearm. The woman said Morris prevented her from calling for help or leaving the apartment for 10 hours.

The woman said she was eventually able to get the firearm and hide it underneath a sink. Morris was reported to have left the scene in a passenger car, which is when the woman contacted the police.

As it turned out, the firearm was a replica of a Mac-10 automatic rifle, with the orange toy safety tip covered with black tape to be deceptive, according to a statement issued by Commerce Police Chief Kerry Crews.

Morris was later stopped by a Commerce Police officer and was found to have an outstanding warrant for violating his parole. Morris had allegedly given the officer a false name and date of birth and was taken into custody, which is where things got even more interesting.

During his transport to the jail, Morris allegedly made a statement to police that they needed to call the Fort Worth Police Department regarding an unsolved homicide.

Crews said Wednesday that detectives from the Fort Worth Police Department had spoken with Morris, but added no arrests had been made regarding the alleged homicide and that he had not heard any recent information about the case.

        

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