Death of man seen on Ring cameras ‘running for his life’ ruled a homicide

Deundray Cottrell, 31, and his partner Julian Taylor Morris, 31, arrived in Alabama on July 4 to visit Cottrell’s sister and celebrate the holiday with Cottrell’s family, AL.com reports.

Angelica Harris, Cottrell’s sister, told the newspaper she last saw her brother around 10 p.m. that night, when he said he went upstairs to check on his dog because of the fireworks. However, Morris told the family Cottrell fled through the backyard.

While searching for Cottrell, the family found one of his shoes and his cell phone and reported him missing to the police.

Harris told WSB-TV that Morris’ initial reaction to her brother’s disappearance was unusual.

“While we were searching, Julian didn’t,” Harris told the outlet. “At one point, while everyone was searching, we came back into the house and Julian had prepared a plate and was sitting there eating. And he looked at me and was like, ‘Oh my God, the food is so good.'”

According to AL.com, several Ring cameras in the neighborhood showed Cottrell running through people’s yards and jumping over a gate.

“It looked like he was seeking refuge,” Harris told the outlet. “He was running for his life.”

Cottrell was found dead Saturday about two blocks from his last known location, according to the police news release. The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office has ruled Cottrell’s cause of death a homicide.

The medical examiner’s office did not release further details about Cottrell’s cause of death, but told HuffPost in an email that Cottrell was found unconscious “in a detached shed in the backyard of an abandoned residence.”

Timothy Cottrell, the victim’s older brother, told ABC affiliate WBMA that the family had passed by the cabin “several times” without believing that Deundray might be inside.

Police said they are currently searching for Morris and are considering him a person of interest in the investigation into his partner’s death.

Truman Fitzgerald, spokesman for the Birmingham Police Department, told WBMA that Morris “may have crucial information” about the murder and that it was possible that Morris was a suspect or in danger himself.