Vernon County woman sent to prison for drug trafficking

Jeff Lehr, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·1 min read

May 17—LAMAR, Mo. — A Barton County judge sentenced a Nevada, Missouri, woman to seven years in prison Thursday for trafficking in fentanyl and cocaine and related convictions.

Davisey A. Morris, 23, pleaded guilty in Barton County Circuit Court to a reduced count of second-degree trafficking in drugs and counts of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle and unlawful use of a weapon in a plea deal. She had been facing a charge of first-degree trafficking in drugs, which could have drawn a longer sentence.

Judge David Munton accepted the plea arrangement and sentenced Morris to concurrent terms of seven years each on the trafficking and tampering counts and four years on the weapon offense.

The sentences stem from an arrest March 28, 2022, following a stolen vehicle pursuit that began in Bourbon County, Kansas, and ended in Barton County in Missouri. Morris was a passenger in the Ford Mustang that had been reported stolen in Vernon County and was being driven by Tyler K. Rose, 25, of Arcadia, Kansas.

Deputies found a bag containing eight grams of a powdery substance that tested positive for both cocaine and fentanyl in the center console of the car and two handguns — one in the backseat and another in a purse on the passenger-side floorboard.

Rose pleaded guilty in November 2022 to trafficking, vehicle tampering, weapon and resisting arrest counts and was sentenced to concurrent terms of 10 years for the trafficking and four years on each of the other three counts.

Jeff Lehr is a reporter for The Joplin Globe.