Two Houston women with a shared name, not related, were murdered days apart

HOUSTON – Two women with the same name were murdered (by complete coincidence) days apart. Nearly 25 years later, their murders remain unsolved.

RELATED: Who killed Mary Morris? Two women with the same name, no relation, murdered within days of each other in Houston

It was October 2000 when Mary Lou Morris was found dead in a burned-out car on a rural road in an area north of Baytown. Days later, another Mary Morris was found dead in a vehicle in Northwest Houston.

Mary Lou Morris

Mary Lou Morris was a no-show at her old job as a loan analyst at a bank on the Katy Freeway in West Houston.

“My mother couldn’t come to work that day,” Marilyn Blalock, Morris’ daughter, recalled that day. “When I got to her house. I remember when I stopped, there was a cop standing there.

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Blalock and her stepfather decided to drive Morris’ commute, hoping to find her car. Hours had passed and there was no sign of Morris or her car.

“I don’t see her car stopped on the side of the road or see any sign of an accident,” Blalock recalls.

Blalock called hospitals to see if a woman matching her mother’s description had checked in. No clues. Even more concerned, Blalock received a call from her father saying he heard authorities had found a burned car near Crosby-Lynchburg and I-10, not far from Mary’s mother’s home.

Immediately, Blalock and her stepfather drove to the area.

“I wanted to drive because I wanted to get to wherever this was as quickly as possible,” she said.

Confused, Blalock remembers her stepfather directing her to a specific location, 2600 West Cedar Bayou Lynchburg Road, and not Crosby Lynchburg, the area her father had given her on the phone.

Blalock said she couldn’t see the charred car, but a deputy on scene confirmed there was a burned car at that location. Blalock said the deputy told them to return to their home.

“Not even 15 minutes later they knocked on the door,” she said. “Then they told us my mother’s car was where we had been and her body was in the car. I just remember losing it. I was just crying, bawling because I think I was in absolute shock.

Paralyzed by pain, Blalock has so many questions and very few answers. Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days. Blalock was watching the news and heard her mother’s name mentioned during a news broadcast. It caught her attention.

“It was like the news crews messed that up. Like they got all the details wrong,” she explained.

Time faded away as Blalock prepared to say her final goodbyes to her mother.

“The only thing that mattered to me when my mother was buried was that she be buried with her jewelry,” she recalls. ‘The funeral home didn’t want to put my mother in the coffin. They wanted her to stay in a body bag. That was horrible. So when I was the only one to see my mother in her coffin. And when they opened the casket, I didn’t see her jewelry anywhere.”

After a call to the medical examiner’s office, Blalock was even more stunned when she was told the jewelry had allegedly been retrieved with the body.

“I said, no, my mother’s remains have already been collected. I just need to figure out where her jewelry is and how to pick it up. And they said, no, Mary Morris is still here. All I remember is him putting me on hold for what seemed like forever,” Blalock shouted. “Eventually he called again, and that’s when I found out there was another Mary Morris at the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office.”

Blalock eventually received the jewelry from her mother, most of it scorched in a bag. The only piece not destroyed: a heart pendant. Blalock had the jewelry refurbished.

“I actually wear it a lot,” she said.

More than twenty years later, a sign of love from someone who cherished and cherished life. From family to hobbies, Morris loved cars. In fact, she was one of the first female demolition drivers in Houston, driving in demolition derbies. Morris also loved animals, especially horses.

“It’s heartbreaking because she was a good woman. She was a good wife.” Blalock explained. ‘I want to know why. I also really want to know how she died. I want to know that my mother didn’t suffer. She was a good mother, and you know, she taught me how to take care of your family, take care of your kids and talk tough. The woman she was made me the person I am.”

Morris was 48 when she was found dead on October 12, 2000.

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The murder of Mary McGinnis Morris

Another Mary Morris was murdered and found dead in her car on Houston’s northwest side a day later, on October 15, 2000.

“She meant so much to so many people,” explains Katy Morris, daughter of Mary McGinnis Morris. “I think she was a great mother. She was a wonderful daughter and sister, a wonderful friend, a wonderful wife. She was a beloved member of our community, our church community, our theater community. She was also a healthcare provider.”

As an only child, she thinks about her mother’s life. At the age of 39, Mary McGinnis Morris was attacked, shot and killed in her car. Katy is now 39 and a mother herself.

“It reminds me so much of my mother, especially now that I have children of my own.” Katy explained.

When her mother was murdered, Katy was 15 years old.

“I was a sophomore in high school and it was fall, so it was busy.” Katy reminded.

The Morris family moved from West Virginia to Texas for Mary’s job, a nurse. She accepted a job as a medical director at a Houston-based chemical company.

“Houston has opened a lot of doors.” Katy explained.

It was a Sunday, Mary went to the office, Katy and her father went to the movies.

‘We went to the movies, came home and she wasn’t home. She should have been home by now. The dog was still in her kennel.” Katy explained.

Katy said when they got home it was clear something was wrong. Katy’s father contacted Mary’s friend who she had been with that day.

“And she hadn’t seen her since earlier in the day. But she did remember my mother calling her and telling her she had seen someone while she was grocery shopping, which scared her. That she had the feeling that it was a friend or acquaintance of this colleague with whom she had had problems earlier this week. Katy reminded.

Shortly afterwards, Katy said her mother remembered calling 911. The recording of that phone call was never released, but Katy says it captured her mother’s final moments.

“I did have a chance to listen to it. And the last memory I have of my mother is her screaming.” Katy explained.

As for who attacked and killed her mother, Katy said she doesn’t believe her father killed her mother.

“I don’t think my father had anything to do with it. I don’t think their relationship was perfect, but I think they were both two people who were willing to work to improve that relationship. I just want peace for my father. I can’t imagine what he went through losing his best friend, losing his partner, and having to raise a 15-year-old daughter with his family halfway across the country on his own.” Katy explained. “My hope is that both cases can be resolved. That Marilyn and I can both get some rest. Not just for ourselves as daughters of these women, but for the rest of our families. (Do you believe that Marilyn’s mother, and also Mary Morris, were murdered by someone who thought they were killing your mother?) It’s definitely a little suspicious to me that this happened. These two women with the same name were murdered so close together.”

Both Mary Morris murders remain unsolved. If you have any information that can help resolve either case, please contact Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

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