Andie Morrell

Andie Morrell, a 37-year-old Black / African American woman, was found deceased on September 19, 2025, in a vacant lot in Tampa. Officers with the Tampa Police Department discovered her body, which was wrapped in bedding and bound with duct tape, in the 1500 block of North 39th Street. The medical examiner’s office later identified her through tattoos and fingerprints and determined her cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest.

The investigation began after Morrell’s roommate reported her missing. She was last heard from on the night of September 10, when she texted her roommate an address on Polak Drive, stating she was going there for a "house visit" as an exotic dancer. The discovery of her body prompted a joint investigation between the Tampa Police Department and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, which led detectives to the home on Polak Drive in unincorporated Hillsborough County. Investigators found blood evidence inside the residence and concluded that Morrell had been killed there before her body was moved.

Surveillance video recovered from a business near the vacant lot captured events from the morning of September 11. The footage showed a person driving a stolen vehicle into the lot, dumping the body, and pouring a liquid on it in an unsuccessful attempt to set it on fire. The driver then struck a median while leaving, disabling the car. The individual was seen removing the license plate before walking away from the scene.

Investigators identified the resident of the Polak Drive home as 17-year-old Justin Hawker, who matched the description of the person in the surveillance video. When deputies first questioned him, they noted the strong smell of bleach in the home. After an initial alibi proved false, Hawker placed a 911 call and told the dispatcher, "I was involved in a homicide."

Justin Hawker was arrested on September 20 and charged with second-degree murder with a firearm. A judge ordered him to be held without bond. At his formal arraignment, Hawker's defense attorney entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. As of October 2025, the case was proceeding through the court system.