On a tragic day in May 2022, 25-year-old Alexius Anna Spencer of Bowersville, Georgia, was fatally shot and killed. The incident, which also claimed the life of 26-year-old Jerece Teasley, unfolded in a vehicle on Redwine Church Road in Hart County. Spencer, a mother of two young sons, was remembered by friends and family as a sweet, kind, and joyful person with a smile that could brighten the darkest day.
She was an employee at First Quality Tissue and a member of Encounter Church.
Law enforcement was called to a grim scene where Teasley was found deceased in the driver's seat of a white Hyundai Sonata. Spencer, having been shot multiple times, had managed to exit the vehicle and collapse on the side of the road roughly 300 to 400 feet away. First responders located her after she was able to wave her arm into the road to get their attention. Despite their efforts, she succumbed to her injuries within minutes of being placed in an ambulance and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The investigation, a collaborative effort between the Hart County Sheriff's Office, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and other state and local agencies, quickly led to a person of interest. Investigators identified a suspect vehicle, a silver Chevy Equinox, from video footage obtained from a nearby farm. This crucial piece of evidence led them to Morris Maurice Norwood, a 59-year-old from Hartwell.
Two days after the discovery of the victims, Morris Maurice Norwood was taken into custody. He was subsequently charged with a litany of offenses, including two counts of felony murder, two counts of malice murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Following the murders, Norwood attempted to conceal the. 38 special Smith & Wesson handgun used in the crime by placing it in a paper bag and hiding it in tall grass. In October 2024, a Hart County Superior Court jury found Norwood guilty on all 15 counts against him. A judge sentenced him to multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 100 years in prison.
