CALDWELL - A walk through the Miller and Belford streets neighborhood in Caldwell Tuesday afternoon gave no indication that a deadly shooting had apparently taken place there only the day before.
Around 4 a.m. Monday the body of 22-year-old Tiffany Morrison was found on the floor of her 702 Miller St. home by Noble County Sheriff Stephen Hannum and a deputy.
Lying next to the body was Tiffany's husband, Jerad M. Morrison, 24, who was arrested and charged with murder later that morning in Noble County Court, according to an initial news release from the sheriff's office Monday morning.
Morrison is currently being held in the Noble County Jail on $1 million bond.
The news has rocked the Caldwell neighborhood.
"This has always been a quiet area-nothing like this has ever happened here," said Galen Long, who owns a tractor sales business just down the block from the Morrison residence.
Linda Koval, who lives directly across Belford Street from the Morrisons' home, was apparently awakened by the gunshot early Monday morning.
"I heard the shot, but thought it was just a firecracker going off," she said. "I came downstairs for a couple of minutes but didn't see or hear anything else, so I went back to bed."
Koval said the Morrisons had lived in their two-story frame house for about a year.
Next-door neighbor Eric Wheeler, who has lived on Belford Street for six months, said it seemed like the couple was constantly working on the house.
"They were always fixing it up," he said. "We spoke often, our kids played together. I never noticed that they had any domestic issues or anything. So this was very shocking."
Wheeler said Tiffany Morrison would occasionally babysit for his children.
"She was really a nice lady," he said.
Wheeler said he didn't hear any gunshots, but saw an ambulance pull up to the Morrison home when he left for work around 4:30 a.m. Monday.
Belford Street resident Crissy Ivey said there were at least three young children in the Morrison family. The children are believed to be staying with relatives.
"There was nothing unusual about the couple," she said. "They worked on the house a lot - it was a fixer-upper."
Ivey said the entire area was shocked by the incident.
"And this is the quietest neighborhood in town," she added.
All was quiet at the Morrison house Tuesday. The yellow police barrier tape had been removed Monday morning and an American flag drooped from a pole on the wraparound front porch. Someone had placed several roses and a stuffed toy dog on the porch near the front door.
"You just never know what might go on behind those closed doors," said Karen Porter, who was visiting with Ivey Tuesday afternoon.
More information was not available from local authorities on Tuesday. During a hearing before Noble County Judge Lucien Young III related to Monday's shooting, Jerad Morrison's attorney, Jack Blakeslee, motioned to the court for a gag order, according to a release from the sheriff's office.
The order was granted and all prosecution, sheriff and defense staff have been ordered to share nothing other than procedural information with anyone.
