Woman Facing Infant Homicide Case Could be Released on Recognizance if State Attorney Doesn’t File Charges Soon

Rebecca Lynne Morris, 36, is currently held in the Alachua County Jail on a $1 million bond for a count of aggravated manslaughter against her infant son. She could be released on recognizance if prosecutors with the Eighth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office (SAO8) don’t file charges soon. 

Under Florida law, a defendant can be held in jail for roughly a month without formal charges. After 33 days without formal charges, defendants have a right to be released unless prosecutors can show grounds to extend the deadline by a week. 40 days is the hard legal deadline for someone to be in jail without formal charges. Prosecutors can still file after someone has been released.

On Tuesday, after spending 33 days in jail, Morris’ public defender filed a motion for recognizance release due to SAO8 not yet filing formal charges. The motion will be heard tomorrow in Judge James Colaw’s courtroom. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney Brooke King. Morris is represented by Assistant Public Defender Daniel Sarafan.

Arrest Report

On May 19, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a medical emergency that turned into a death investigation of Morris’ 38-day-old son, Josiah, after the baby was pronounced dead in the hospital.

According to the arrest report, “Rebecca stated that she sleeps in the bed with Josiah and her one-year-old son. She stated that she fell asleep around midnight with Josiah in the bed. At the time she was trying to breast feed. The next thing she remembered was that she woke up a few minutes before the 911 call was made at [8:19 a.m.]. She stated that when she woke up, she saw that Josiah was not breathing and she ran to her neighbor's house to call 911. Rebecca was asked about drug use and she stated that she had not smoked marijuana in approximately four months. She stated that she had not done any other drugs in two years. She was drug screened by DCF at the hospital and there were no drugs detected.”

A judge granted a search warrant the same day of Josiah’s death. Deputies recovered bedding, clothing, and items with DNA evidence from Morris’ residence.

During the search, deputies located two cannabis blunts, both appeared to be smoked and burnt. 

In a kitchen drawer, deputies found a glass pipe with burnt residue. The drawer also reportedly contained “a spoon for a baby,” among other silverware. 

On May 27, Deputy Michael Adkins swabbed the glass pipe, and it tested positive for methamphetamine.  

On June 5, Adkins received a toxicology report from the Medical Examiner’s Office. The results showed that Josiah had methamphetamine in his system at the time of his death. 

On June 10, deputies served another search warrant at Morris’ residence and recovered syringes, bottles, and any other devices used to feed or give narcotics to a child. 

After the search, Adkins called Morris and asked to meet with her at the Sheriff’s Office, and she agreed. Adkins summarized his interview with Morris in the report:

“I asked her to walk me through the night again leading up to the 911 call. This time she stated that she went to Walmart with a friend sometime before 11. They arrived back at her house and Josiah had a bottle. The friend left and approximately thirty minutes later she laid down with Josiah and the one year old. She stated that she fell asleep in the middle of them both and that she believed Josiah was asleep prior to her falling asleep.

She stated that Josiah normally sleeps throughout the night and that she doesn't have to wake up with him except every 5-6 hours. She said that she did not wake up until in the morning and she noticed that Josiah was not breathing. She said that she then remembered that she did not plug her phone in the night before so she assumed it was dead, so she ran to her neighbor's house.

She stated that she was unsure if Josiah was on his stomach or back.

I then advised Rebecca that I was going to ask specific questions. I read her Miranda warning from an agency issued card. Post Miranda, she stated she understood her rights.

l asked her about the marijuana blunts. She stated that they were from her friend. I previously interviewed her friend who stated that he took a few ‘hits’ from one blunt but that it was outside. I asked Rebecca about this friend using any cocaine, meth, or heroin, [and] she stated that she has never seen him to do that. She again stated that she had not smoked marijuana in approximately four months.

I asked Rebecca about other drug use in the house. She stated that she knows people who do hard drugs but that she does not have them in her house or around her kids. She also stated that she is the only one who takes care of Josiah. She confirmed that she has lived alone since August 2025 other than living with her kids.

I showed Rebecca a picture of the pipe from the silverware drawer. She stated that she has never seen that and that she never goes in that drawer. I asked her when [was] the last time that she saw any meth and she said that it had been a long time.

I informed Rebecca of the toxicology report findings. She stated that she did not give Josiah meth. She repeated this several times. Rebecca then stated that the night of Josiah's death, she gave him medicine through a syringe that she got from the drawer with the meth pipe. I informed her that the amount of meth in Josiah's system was not consistent with trace amounts of meth from a transfer such as a syringe touching a pipe.

I advised her that she also lied about smoking marijuana. I informed her that a witness came forward who provided text message evidence showing that they smoked marijuana together on [May 15, 2026]. Rebecca became argumentative about this and stated that she may have. I asked Rebecca how she tested negative for drugs if she smoked marijuana a few days prior. Shortly after asking that, she requested an attorney.

Throughout this investigation, Rebecca has placed herself as the sole provider of Josiah, and the only adult in the house. She further confirmed that Josiah is unable to crawl or move on his own. She stated that he had recently been trying to roll over. Due to Josiah's age, he would be unable to administer any methamphetamine to himself.

Rebecca is being charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child (FSS 782.07.3).”

On June 11, SAO8 filed a pretrial detention motion against Morris, but it was denied by Judge Denise Ferrero, who set the bond at $1 million. Ferrero ordered Morris to have no contact with children and to wear an ankle monitor if released. 

Prior Cases

On June 2, 2021, Deputy Ryan Depete responded to Morris’ apartment in reference to a domestic disturbance that involved her children. 

Depete reported that he observed Morris punch her son in the face with one arm while holding an infant in her other arm.

The Department of Children and Families took Morris' children into their custody pending the outcome of the investigation.

Morris was arrested and charged with child abuse, but prosecutors dropped the case. Further details are available in the full arrest report.

Morris also has prior and/or pending drug charges from out of Georgia. She’s been arrested twice in Alachua County on a Georgia extradition warrant for charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of cocaine.