A Manatee County grand jury found that evidence in the Jan. 1, 2009 death of Sheena Morris in a hotel room in Bradenton Beach was insufficient to establish a homicide, according to a May 14 press release from 12th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Ed Brodsky.
The Statewide Prosecutor’s office took the case to a grand jury after Morris’ mother, Kelly Osborn, insisted her daughter’s death was not a suicide, as Bradenton Beach police concluded at the scene. Osborn had taken the case to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Dr. Phil TV show and the media trying to prove Morris’ fiance was to blame for her death. He was never charged.
Jurors heard testimony from Bradenton Beach police, Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers, five medical examiners – two of them Osborn’s – her crime scene expert and two members of Morris’ family.
Osborne wrote on her Facebook page:
“I Kelly Osborn, mother of Sheena Morris am only speaking for myself… I am disappointed and exhausted from the last 12 years. It was a long fought battle to have Sheena’s case heard. It is my opinion that the “evidence is insufficient ” because the Bradenton Beach Police Department FAILED to do their jobs 12 years ago. The so-called FDLE investigation 4 YEARS LATER was exactly what they named the case, “Operation Beach Assist”. We know what they did and didn’t do.
I would like to thank Ed Brodsky for turning the case over to the Office of Statewide Prosecution and for Cass Castillo’s hard work. I would like to thank the jurors for their hard work as well.
