The family of Ray Morgan misses him every day, said daughter Raelee Morgan in an interview earlier this week, which is making it so hard to wait for justice in his murder case.
Batavia PD has a person of interest and that person is being held in the Genesee County Jail on an unrelated charge, but until the State Police lab reports back on the results of DNA tests from the crime scene it would be premature to try and charge that person with murder, said Chief Shawn Heubusch.
Raelee said members of the family don't feel the case is moving fast enough nor is much information being shared with the family.
"I'm not sure what they're looking for but we're doing everything we can to prepare a case to present to a grand jury," Heubusch said. "The worst thing that can happen is we present a case and the grand jury returns a no bill, then we're done. We can't present the case again."
Heubusch said the State Police lab is cooperative and has expedited the case but it still takes time to get results.
He also said investigator's sisters communicate regularly with Raelee's sister, Faith, but the police cannot release all of the information they have because there is information, if made public, that could compromise the investigation.
The 47-year-old Morgan, who besides two daughters, had seven grandchildren, was reportedly badly beaten in the attack.
Heubusch sounded a little exasperated at one point to even be talking about the case publicly.
"When you go on social media or you go to the media and start talking, it hurts the case," Heubusch said. "You could put something out there that makes it harder to get a conviction."
Raelee said the family just wants justice and they don't want the public to remember him as a person who had a criminal record but as a man who was a kind, loving family man, and friend to many people. She said everything he did, even the things that got him into trouble, was to help other people.
"He was the type of guy that no matter who you are what you've done in the past, he will give you the shirt off his back," Raelee said. "If he had 10 dollars in his pocket he would give it to you if you needed it. He was an amazing guy. He really was."
She's also upset that after Morgan's murder the night of July 24 at 111 Liberty St., Batavia, that once police left his apartment, the room was left open. Morgan's belongings disappeared, she said, and a neighbor posted gruesome, bloody pictures on Facebook.
Raelee blames the police.
"I would like to find a lawyer for the wrongdoings of the Batavia Police Department handling his crime scene because, like I said, his crime scene was not taped off; his crime scene was completely opened up," Raelee said. "Myself and my sister only received three bags of bloody clothes -- all the rest of his belongings were thrown away."
The day after the murder, Heubusch told The Batavian that once investigators finish processing a crime scene, the property is turned over to the property owner and the owner from that point is responsible for securing the scene. As a matter of Constitutional law, the police cannot maintain control of private property once it has finished processing the crime scene.
The Batavian's news partner, 13WHAM contributed to this story.
