Oregon man gets two life sentences for killing roommates

MADRAS, Ore. – A 21-year-old central Oregon man has been sentenced to two terms of life in prison without parole for the shooting deaths of his two roommates last year.

KTVZ-TV reported Wednesday that Mitchell Julio Morris, of Crooked River Ranch, was sentenced and ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution to the victims’ families.

Police had received a report in February 2016 of gunshots at a home and arrived to find a man and a woman dead. The victims were 18-year-old Bailee Ray Southwick and 21-year-old Mackenzie Lyman.

Morris fled the scene and was arrested the following day in Salem.

Morris has not said why he shot both his roommates with a rifle three times but he told investigators he was not arguing with them before the killing.

He did not give a statement during Wednesday’s hearing.