PA Woman Charged With Murder In Marietta Man's Hotel Stabbing Death

MARIETTA, GA — A Philadelphia woman is facing charges after police say she stabbed a Marietta man multiple times and concealed his body on June 21 in a Delk Road hotel room before fleeing from Georgia in the man's loaner car.

Marietta Police identified the woman Friday as Keiyotta India Cooper, 30. She is in police custody in Virginia and is being charged on suspicion of murder in the stabbing death of Dearish Morris, 37, police said.

Police said Cooper was visiting Morris around 4 p.m. in his hotel room, where she stabbed him for unknown reasons. Cooper was accused of not rendering aid or calling for help, and police said Morris died of his injuries.

Cooper was accused of then concealing Morris' body when a hotel representative knocked on the door in an attempt to collect the rent payment. Afterwards, police said Cooper took a vehicle that had been loaned to Morris and fled the state.

The owner of the vehicle tracked it by GPS as it was traveling into Virginia, and then, notified Virginia authorities. Later that evening, Caroline County, Virginia, Sheriff’s Office deputies found the vehicle traveling in their jurisdiction and conducted a traffic stop.

"During their subsequent investigation, deputies suspected that Cooper may have been involved in a homicide in Marietta, Georgia," police said in a news release, not indicating what led the deputies to suspect Cooper's involvement in the killing.

Police said meanwhile, hotel workers in Marietta discovered a body in Morris’ room and called 911 for help. Marietta officers arrived around 10 p.m. to the hotel and found Morris dead on his bed "under extremely suspicious circumstances," police said.

While Marietta detectives were investigating his death, they were notified by Caroline County deputies that Cooper was in custody.

"Although Investigators from the two agencies were hundreds of miles apart, they were able to piece together the circumstances behind Morris’ death only hours after it occurred," police said in the release.

Cooper was charged on suspicion of felony murder, theft by taking and felony aggravated assault, police said. She in the Caroline County Jail on unrelated charges and is awaiting extradition to the Cobb County Jail.