BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — More than two years after an Atlanta man’s “bizarre” death, his then-boyfriend has been charged with murder.
Over the Fourth of July holiday in 2024, Deundray Cottrell and his boyfriend, Julian Morris, traveled to the Birmingham, Ala. area for a celebration with family.
While there, Cottrell’s sister told Channel 2 Action News that he became worried about his dogs and the fireworks and went inside to check on the pets.
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But he never came back to the party. Instead, he was captured on Ring doorbell footage running through yards and hopping a fence. They found his phone and a shoe in the backyard.
His sister said Morris’ reaction was strange. She said Morris was the one who alerted her that her brother disappeared saying he jumped off her patio balcony.
“He told us that when he jumped, he bounced...got up and jumped the fence and took off running,” she said.
But she says that was his only reaction.
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“While we looked – Julian didn’t,” she said. “At one point when everybody was searching, Julian had fixed a plate and was sitting there eating, and he looked at me and said omg the food is so good.”
Cottrell’s body was found a few days later.
Harris was arrested on Tuesday in Miami, Florida by U.S. Marshals and charged with Cottrell’s death.
He is currently being held in Florida and will be extradited to Alabama.
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