Man charged after ax murders of sister-in-law and 9-year-old niece, officials say

A New Jersey man has been charged with murder after the grisly axing death of his sister-in-law and 9-year-old niece, officials said.

Everoy L. Morrison, 44, of Roselle, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, motor vehicle theft and several weapons counts, the Union County prosecutor’s office and Roselle police announced Monday.

The bodies of Keisha Morrison, 45, and her young daughter Kelsey Morrison were found April 18 by police officers who had been called to a home in the 200 block of West 7th Avenue in Roselle for a report of two missing people, officials said.

Officers found the victims’ bodies and determined that Keisha Morrison’s car had been stolen.

Investigators tracked the car to Maryland where the driver, Everoy Morrison, was stopped and arrested for possessing a stolen car, prosecutors said in a news release.

An investigation by the prosecutor’s office, Roselle police and Maryland State Police led to Morrison’s arrest.

Officials said he had been living in the basement of Keisha Morrison’s home at the time of the slayings.

Atasha Scott, the sister of Keisha’s husband, Gary, told NBC New York that Everoy had been living there for more than two years and was recently told to move out but hadn't done so yet.

“I can’t go into details exactly what occurred, but I can tell you she was uncomfortable” with Everoy living in the basement, Scott said.

Scott said the killer had “wrapped them up in bed sheets, stuffed them under my niece’s bed."

Gary allegedly found what appeared to be the murder weapon, a bloody ax, stuffed between two mattresses in his bedroom, the station reported.

“On the floor, it seemed like somebody was trying to clean up blood, like it was swirled around,” Scott told NBC New York.

Scott told the station Everoy was “jealous” of Gary’s life, saying, “He wanted what he had.”

Everoy Morrison was being held in the Baltimore County Detention Center in Maryland awaiting extradition. It's not immediately clear whether he has a lawyer.

“We hope that this arrest can bring some small measure of comfort to all those grieving Keisha and Kelsey,” Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel said.

The prosecutor's office and police didn't immediately respond to requests for more details.

The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information on the case is urged to contact the prosecutor’s office or Roselle police.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com