Joseph Davis admitted murdering Morris after investigators documented earlier domestic-violence cases and a message expressing fear for her safety.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Months before Christine Morris was found dead inside her St. Paul home, she sent a friend a stark warning: If she or her young daughter ever disappeared or died, Joseph Davis should be considered responsible, according to charging records described by local news organizations. Davis has now pleaded guilty to murdering her.
The message, reportedly sent in September 2024, became part of the evidence investigators gathered after Morris, 33, was killed on May 2, 2025. Davis, her boyfriend and the father of their 2-year-old daughter, has admitted to intentional second-degree murder. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 26, with prosecutors seeking a 480-month, or 40-year, prison term.
The warning was not the only documented sign of trouble before Morris’ death. Court and charging accounts reported that Davis had previous domestic-violence convictions involving Morris and had violated a domestic-abuse no-contact order. The Minnesota Star Tribune reported when Davis was charged that his convictions involving Morris dated back to 2023. Investigators also spoke with a former partner of Davis who described her own fears about his violence and had previously obtained legal protection from him.
Those earlier cases became part of a broader history examined only after the fatal confrontation. They did not tell investigators precisely what would happen on May 2, but they provided context for statements Morris had made to people close to her. A Minnesota memorial project later included Morris among people killed in cases involving abusive partners, describing her history with Davis and noting that their daughter was physically unharmed when police found her inside the home.
The night before Morris died, she spent time with a friend. According to the criminal case account, Morris told that friend that Davis had been accusing her of cheating. She later returned to the residence she shared with Davis in the 300 block of Edmund Avenue. At about 11 p.m., she sent a message saying she had made it home safely. That communication became one of the last known contacts described by investigators before the homicide.
Hours later, police received information from one of Davis’ relatives that radically changed the situation. Davis had called a family member and said he had killed Morris, according to the probable cause account. He apologized and indicated that their daughter was still at the house. Officers were sent to the Edmund Avenue property for a welfare check during the early morning hours and entered looking for both Morris and the child.
The toddler was found in the living room and appeared physically unharmed. Upstairs, officers located Morris in a bedroom beneath a blanket. She had sustained multiple stab wounds and was pronounced dead. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the death as a homicide. Police found no need to rely solely on physical evidence to identify a suspect because Davis’ own communications had already directed investigators toward him.
The search nevertheless moved outside St. Paul. Investigators found Morris’ cellphone discarded near a park, and officers eventually located Davis at an apartment in Minneapolis. The resident told authorities that she had met Davis through a dating app about a month earlier. According to the case account, Davis contacted her after the killing, said he was running from police and asked whether he could stay there without initially explaining why officers were looking for him.
A Minneapolis SWAT team was called to the apartment. Davis was eventually taken into custody and interviewed by homicide detectives after being advised of his rights. During that interview, police said Davis admitted stabbing Morris during a confrontation. He claimed he had become consumed by accusations that Morris was involved with another man and told detectives he believed a recording device in the home had captured evidence of that relationship.
Those accusations reflected Davis’ claims to investigators, not independently established findings about Morris. What Davis did acknowledge, according to the charging account, was that he attacked her and remained there as she died. He told detectives he covered her afterward. He also said he then spent time lying down with the couple’s daughter until the child fell asleep, left the home and later discarded Morris’ phone while driving away.
The child’s presence added another dimension to the homicide investigation. Police found the 2-year-old alone downstairs while Morris was upstairs. Public reporting has not indicated that the girl suffered physical injuries. The case therefore left investigators with two sharply different realities inside the same house: a child who survived physically unharmed and a mother who had been killed after earlier documenting fears about the man who would later admit responsibility.
Morris was remembered beyond the circumstances of her death. A Minnesota memorial account described her as Christine “Chrissy” Morris and said she ran a Jamaican food catering business and worked as a real estate professional. Friends described her as someone whose love and personality affected many people around her. Earlier fundraising material described her as a loving mother, sister and friend and placed particular emphasis on the daughter she left behind.
Davis’ guilty plea means the state will not have to prove the murder charge to a jury. The plea is to second-degree murder with intent, the same central charge filed after his arrest. Prosecutors are asking for 480 months in prison, which published plea coverage identifies as the maximum sentence available for the offense. The court, however, must still impose the sentence, and no final punishment had been entered as of Oct. 19.
The plea also changes how the earlier warning from Morris fits into the public record. When friends first gave the message to police, it was part of an active homicide investigation against a newly charged defendant who was presumed innocent unless convicted. Davis has since admitted the murder in court. Morris’ message now stands alongside his prior domestic-violence history and the final communications she sent on the night before her death as documented background to a crime for which he has accepted responsibility.
Davis is scheduled to return to court Oct. 26. The hearing is expected to determine how much of the possible 40-year term he will serve for killing Morris. Until the judge enters that sentence, prosecutors’ request for 480 months remains a recommendation rather than the final disposition of the case.
Author note: Last updated October 19, 2026.