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Man charged with murdering woman outside Church's Chicken in Tampa denied bond

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Published  March 5, 2025 11:41pm EST
Tampa
FOX 13 News

Man denied bond after woman's murder

FOX 13’s Jordan Bowen reports on Michael Canty, a 54-year-old accused of killing a woman and leaving her body in mulch near a Church’s Chicken drive-thru lane, being denied bail by a judge on Wednesday.

The Brief

    • A man facing a second-degree murder charge was denied bail by a Tampa judge on Wednesday.
    • Michael Canty is accused of murdering a woman and leaving her body partially buried in mulch near the drive-thru of a Church’s Chicken on East Fletcher Ave. in Tampa.
    • The judge who denied Canty bail said it was to protect the community from risk and ensure he would attend his trial.

TAMPA, Fla. - A Tampa judge denied bond on Wednesday for a 54-year-old man facing a second-degree murder charge in the death of a 48-year-old woman.

The backstory:

In June 2024, Dawn Morrison's body was found partially buried in mulch near the drive-thru lane of Church's Chicken on East Fletcher Ave.

Michael Canty was arrested last month and has been held in jail since then.

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Church's Chicken on East Fletcher Ave. in Tampa.

On Wednesday, his attorneys made their case to the judge about why their client should be released on bail, but the judge didn't see it that way.

Dig deeper:

"It is true, Miss Beardsley, that it appears to be a circumstantial case. The court does find that the circumstances as testified to by the detective and the evidence submitted during this hearing, create a substantial probability that the defendant did commit what he statutorily defined as a dangerous crime," Judge Christopher Sabella said.

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According to court records, Canty and Morrison were seen on surveillance video outside the Church's Chicken around 11:30 p.m. on June 15. 

Michael Canty appearing in court on Wednesday. 

Court records say the two met to do drugs. About 30 minutes later, a woman's voice could be heard yelling for help, and then about 40 seconds later, the Church's Chicken lost power and stopped transmitting video.

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Over the next few hours, surveillance video from a McDonald's next door captured Canty going back and forth between the Church's drive-thru and the McDonald's dumpster. 

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Michael Canty captured on surveillance video from a McDonald's next door going back and forth between the Church's drive-thru and the McDonald's dumpster.

At one point, prosecutors say Canty changed his clothes, which were later found with blood stains.

"I find that there are no conditions of release or bail that would reasonably protect the community from risk of physical harm or ensure the presence of the defendant at trial. Therefore, this time, I will grant the state's motion for pretrial detention," Sabella said.

The Source: FOX 13's Jordan Bowen collected the information in this story.

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