CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW)- A man and his mother have been indicted in the January term of the Montgomery County grand jury in connection with the homicide of a man in May 2019.
Joseph Nicholas Morris, 25, of Clarksville is charged with criminal homicide and his mother, Susan Shayne Ficklin, is charged with accessory after the fact in connection with the homicide of 35-year-old Matthew Nelson, who was found shot to death on Earl Slate Road.
According to Morris’ arrest warrant, on May 19, 2019, at approximately 5:37 a.m., officers responded to a call of shots fired on Sanders Road in Clarksville.
Officers found Matthew Nelson, lying in the roadway in front of a home in the 200 block of Earl Slate Road. Nelson had at least one gunshot wound.
The investigation revealed that Nelson walked up to a car that Joseph Morris was a passenger in and spoke with the driver.
The driver told Nelson not to go to his wife’s home anymore and drove away.
“As he was driving away, leaving the street, Morris exited the vehicle and said, ‘I’m gonna end this for good,’ his warrant said.
Morris then allegedly shot Nelson and ran back to the car.
The driver feared that Morris had done something bad and fled the area of the shooting, the warrant said.
A witness told police he heard several gunshots and saw a man run from the area of the shots. The man running dropped his coat in the roadway and ran out of the eyewitnesses’ sight.
Several witnesses stated Morris later said, “He did what he had to do,” the warrant said.
Morris told the driver he was leaving town.
After Morris allegedly committed the homicide and fled the scene, he showed up at a friend’s residence in a car driven by his mother, Susan Shayne Ficklin.
She was allegedly aware of the crime her son had allegedly committed. Police believe her intent was to take him to Indiana because she had to get him out of Clarksville. Ficklin and Morris were located in Elizabethtown, Ky and stopped by Kentucky Highway Patrol, according to a previous report.
They were both located on I-65N outside of Elizabethtown, arrested and extradited to Clarksville.
In a January 2020 indictment, Joseph Nicholas Morris is charged with one count of premeditated first-degree murder for allegedly killing Matthew Nelson.
Ficklin, 48, is charged with accessory after the fact for allegedly “providing aid to help him avoid arrest, trial, conviction or punishment” by driving him out of state.
Morris and Ficklin are both scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 10 in Judge William Goodman’s court.