ATLANTA, GA (WALB) - The Georgia Supreme Court issued a ruling Monday that upholds the 2011 conviction and life sentence of Richard Morrison, who was found guilty of the May 2009 murder of his former girlfriend, Tammy Smith.
Tammy Smith was a mother of seven and long-time resident of Valdosta, and Morrison had been her boyfriend for 12 years.
Smith's body was discovered in the grass on the 1000 block of Cypress Street, where she lived.
"It appears the murder did not occur at that location," says Commander Eugene Bell of the Valdosta Police Department. "The body was placed there, on the side of the road."
Friends remembered Smith as a loving and vivacious person.
"Tammy was a sweet, nice, loving girl--she'd always give you anything she got," says Colette Williams, who has lived near Smith for most of her life.
The close-knit community was shocked by Tammy Smith's brutal death.
"Everybody's been all down about that," says Williams. "They're all down about her being gone, and she's going to be missed terribly--especially by me."
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