CINCINNATI — The family of a handyman murdered in Northside said they have received disturbing phone calls from the man they believe pulled the trigger.
Antwan Morris, 34, was shot in the 1700 block of Casey Drive Sunday, succumbing to his injuries at University of Cincinnati Medical Center three days later. The shooting robbed three children of their father and has led to the family receiving calls from the person they said killed Morris — a man they grew up with who has called several of Morris' relatives.
"You keep calling us saying you turning yourself in and you're not," Kelly Morris said.
The shooter left Morris dying outside an apartment Sunday afternoon, family said. Two days later, with recovery fading in a hospital, his mother saw no choice.
"I made the decision to let him go with some dignity," Tracey Morris said. "They said it would be 15 minutes. My son lasted another 45 minutes and I felt like maybe I made the wrong decision, 'cause he was fighting. He didn't want to go. He didn't want to go."
One of Morris' cousins quickly spoke up: "Tracey, you made the right decision and everybody over here is in agreement with that."
Cincinnati police did not confirm details of the shooting. Morris' family members said he was called over to an apartment that day, paid through Cash App to replace locks on someone's doors.
"She was in such urgent and dire need to have these locks changed," Tracey Morris said. "He said he could do it real quick and get back and watch the [Bengals] game."
Morris ran his own handyman business called Hangman King. Often, though, his family said he would surprise loved ones with freebies when he knew it would make them smile.
"Any one of them could sit there and tell you that they call Uncle 'Twan, he's coming," Kelly Morris said. "He didn't care what time of day."
Niece Kayleah Morris said Uncle 'Twan did everything for her, planning to paint her room before his death.
"He said, 'Mommy, I'm going to be to my kids what I never had,'" Tracey Morris said.
His family said being a dad meant everything to Morris, so when he did not call to check on his three children for hours, loved ones sensed trouble.
"I started going crazy, like, [his] phone [went] to voicemail," Kelly Morris said. "What's going on?"
Morris' family searched for him until they heard bad news. Witnesses said a man pulled up, confronted and shot Antwan in the stomach.
His loved ones returned to the place Morris was shot Thursday, remembering his life dressed in the Bengals gear he always wore.
"He didn't deserve this," Kelly Morris said. "Why did they do this to my brother?"
The family said the caller promises over and over to turn himself in for the shooting they do not understand. As much as they want justice, Morris' family said they also want to know why it happened.
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