As she lay in bed early Wednesday morning, a resident of Interfaith Homes was shaken from her sleep by a loud crash and the cries of her neighbors' 9-year-old daughter.
![memorial Interfaith Homes where two people were shot]()
A small memorial has been placed on the stairs leading to the apartment at Interfaith Homes where two people were shot Wednesday morning. Tamika Morris, 27, and Corey Darnell Johnson, 29, were killed in a 2:55 a.m. shooting in an apartment at Interfaith Homes, off Woodward Avenue north of Paterson Street, according to the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety.KALAMAZOO — As she lay in bed early Wednesday morning, a resident of Interfaith Homes was shaken from her sleep by a loud crash and the cries of her neighbors’ 9-year-old daughter.
The woman, who identified herself only as Lula, recalled hearing fighting “like someone tussling” and sounds of things being tossed around in the second-floor apartment of Corey Darnell Johnson, Tamika Morris and their daughter, Treasure.
“She was screaming the whole time,” Lula said of 9-year-old Treasure. “The baby was calling for her mom.”
She said she heard the muffled voice of a man comforting Treasure, telling her that her mother was OK. As she grabbed a phone to call 911, she heard police running up the stairs to her neighbors’ apartment.
Officers who arrived at 2:55 a.m. Wednesday found Treasure unharmed but Johnson and Morris with gunshot wounds. Morris, 27, died at the scene and Johnson, 29, was pronounced dead later at Bronson Methodist Hospital.
Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety investigators continued their search Thursday for Christopher L. White, 30, the man they suspect shot Johnson and Morris. White was an acquaintance of the couple who grew up with Morris in Chicago, police said.
Capt. Julie Parsons said White moved to Kalamazoo from Chicago about two months ago and had been staying with family in the 900 block of Princeton Avenue. She said police believe White, who is considered to be armed and dangerous, has likely gone back to Illinois.
“It’s very likely he has made it to Chicago, but we’re still working every lead that we’ve gotten,” she said. “That’s where the majority of his family is.”
Parsons said KDPS investigators have been in touch with Chicago-area police agencies to be on the lookout for White.
The police investigation of the shootings was being reviewed by the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office. “I can’t comment on any potential charges at this time because we’re continuing the investigation,” Prosecutor Jeff Fink said Thursday afternoon.
At Interfaith Homes on Thursday, a neighbor of Johnson and Morris, who asked not to be identified, said he was preparing to go to bed early Wednesday morning when he heard screams outside his apartment window. The man said a neighbor told him Morris had been wounded in the head and that the shooting stemmed from a dispute over a pit-bull puppy that Morris had taken from White’s home.
Parsons did say that police found a puppy was in the apartment where the shootings occurred, but declined to elaborate and police have not released information about a potential motive.
Police have not revealed how many times Johnson and Morris were shot or where they were wounded, and have not said whether they believe anyone other than Johnson, Morris, White and Treasure was present during the shootings.
The front door to the couple’s apartment was boarded up and a makeshift memorial consisting of a small, red-and-pink bear and flowers sat on the staircase leading to the unit Thursday.
“She had a lot of friends, she was loved,” one of Lula’s family members said of Morris. “They got along pretty good. Sometimes we hardly knew they were upstairs.”
“I’m just really sad,” said Lula, who with relatives described Johnson and Morris as homebodies who kept to themselves and doted on their daughter.
“It kind of changed the whole mood of my spirit ... People do bad things and you have to be strong,” she said.
Police described White as 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighing 165 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants and an orange jacket or vest.
They ask that anyone with information about the shootings or White’s whereabouts call KDPS at (269) 337-8994 or contact Silent Observer at (269) 343-2100 or
www.kalamazoosilentobserver.com.
Left - Christopher L. White. Right - A small memorial has been placed on the stairs leading to the apartment at Interfaith Homes where two people were shot Wednesday morning. Tamika Morris, 27, and Corey Darnell Johnson, 29, were killed in a 2:55 a.m. shooting in an apartment at Interfaith Homes, off Woodward Avenue north of Paterson Street, according to the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety.
