Inset: Johnny Morris (El Paso County Sheriff’s Office). Background: A home in El Paso County, Colo., where Johnny Morris was living with one of his victims before he allegedly killed him (KKTV).
Disturbing details have emerged about a man who disappeared from a Colorado home last year. Cops found large amounts of blood strewn throughout the residence, sparking a search for him and another man living there. That missing man turned out to be one of two murder victims, according to police.
Johnny Rankin Morris, 46, is accused of killing 37-year-old Stephen Walker in El Paso County and 65-year-old Timmy Huston in Park County in December 2024, according to local police officials. He was caught by cops in Pearl River County, Mississippi, on Dec. 30 for an unrelated crime and extradited to Colorado on charges of first-degree murder, tampering with a deceased human body and tampering with physical evidence following the discovery of Walker’s remains in a culvert. An alleged acquaintance, Hailey Cole, 43, was also arrested and charged. She allegedly told investigators that Morris threatened to kill her as well.
Arrest papers filed by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (EPSO) and obtained by local affiliate KKTV detail how deputies were called to a sober living home where Morris and Walker lived after another man, who was staying there as well, reported finding blood in the garage and the pair missing. Another roommate who had returned home that day reported a strong smell of bleach in the garage and more blood spots. Walker’s vehicle was also missing, according to the arrest documents.
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While searching the home the following day, police said a 10-pound dumbbell was found covered in blood inside the garage, along with a blood-soaked hammer underneath a couch cushion inside the home. Cops tried calling Morris and Walker’s phones, but they were turned off. A note was allegedly found in Morris’ bedroom that suggested he was traveling back to Mississippi, where he is originally from.
Surveillance video obtained by police allegedly showed Walker’s car leaving the home at around 7 a.m. on Dec. 19, 2024, according to the arrest papers. The vehicle was spotted in separate security footage at a convenience store, with Cole being caught on camera getting into the driver’s seat — and Morris moving to the passenger side, police say.
Cops found the car, unoccupied, on Christmas Eve in Park County near Campfire Road and Ranch Road in Hartsel, according to the arrest papers. Blood was found on both rear doors, leading authorities to check out a house in the area, which turned out to be a home where Morris and Cole had previously lived. Huston was allegedly found dead inside.
According to arrest papers, Cole had called Huston — a friend of hers — a week before his body was discovered and asked to use his car to visit family in Mississippi. Cole has said in police interviews that Huston agreed but told her he needed the vehicle back before the new year, according to KKTV. Morris allegedly told Cole that they needed to go ahead and steal someone’s car and that he would handle it.
Phone records obtained by investigators show Morris texting Cole after allegedly killing Walker and swiping his car, asking to meet up at the convenience store, according to police. Cole told cops she asked Morris how he got Walker to let him take his car. He allegedly admitted that Walker didn’t “let” him take it, but refused to give any further details about what happened, according to Cole.
“As they were driving up the pass on Highway 24 toward Hartsel, Hailey asked again where Stephen was,” the arrest papers allege. “Morris responded, ‘Behind you.’ Hailey then realized Stephen was wrapped up in the blankets that were in the back seat. She began to freak out and he told her to keep driving or he was going to bash her brains in.”
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Cole told police that Morris allegedly admitted to killing Walker, attacking him in the garage and hitting him “several times” with a hammer, the arrest papers say. He also allegedly confessed to using the dumbbell to finish Walker off before wrapping him up in blankets.
According to Cole, she and Morris dumped Walker’s body in a culvert in Chaffee County. They allegedly “pushed Walker, the blankets and his cell phone into the water” before driving off, the arrest papers say. The couple then went to Huston’s home and waited for him to arrive in his truck, which they wanted to use to drive to Mississippi, police allege.
Morris allegedly retrieved a hammer from Huston’s basement and beat him with it as soon as he entered his residence, according to the arrest papers. During the attack, Morris allegedly asked for Huston’s phone and money before shooting him in the kneecap. He then used the claw of the hammer to kill Huston, police say.
Morris and Cole allegedly fled across multiple states in Huston’s truck before being caught in Mississippi by authorities. Morris allegedly tried breaking into another vehicle and residence while in the Magnolia State, but was unsuccessful. He and Cole hunkered down in a shed before being caught by law enforcement officers.
Morris is scheduled to go on trial later this year, as is Cole, who has a preliminary hearing in September.
