Annie Morrow, whose son recently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after shooting two other people, found out Wednesday afternoon that she would not be evicted from her Hayes House home.
Her son, Joseph Morrow, shot 17-year-old King Robie and 18-year-old Simone Rush on April 15 before turning the gun on himself at the Curtis Moore Apartments. Robie was killed, and Rush was injured.
Joseph Morrow lived with his mother at 801B Ash St., a property managed by the Greenwood Housing Authority.
A letter dated April 16 from the housing authority, just one day after her son died, said Annie Morrow was being evicted because of her son’s actions. It stated that as a tenant, she was required to ensure that guests and household members act in a way that would not disturb “neighbors’ peaceful enjoyment of their accommodations.”
She was being evicted because of the “severity of the criminal activity” and the “endangerment it presents to residents,” the letter said.
The letter said her lease agreement would be terminated, effective Friday.
Gregory Flippins, executive director of the housing authority, said this morning that he had sent her a letter rescinding the eviction notice, and Morrow confirmed that the letter had been hand-delivered to her.
“I was very happy to see the letter,” she said. “I had been very worried. I had nowhere else to go.”
She said Wednesday she has lived there more than 16 years without any problems.
She was also requested to attend a “Resident Conference,” which the letter states may affect her continued occupancy. The meeting will be to address the facts surrounding the shooting, Flippins said.
The meeting is scheduled for May 5.
Flippins said that after an internal review of the case, certain steps in the eviction process were not addressed and a further review of Morrow’s case was necessary.
Sharon Brown, a friend of Annie Morrow, had written a letter to the Commonwealth about the eviction notice, saying she had never seen someone in so much pain.
“I know she is being punished for what her son did and I know if she could (she would) have stopped it,” Brown said.
nContact Taylor Kuykendall at tkuykendall@gwcommonwealth.com.
