When Meagan Morris drove to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Alvarado on July 4, it was to show her support for people detained amid immigration crackdowns led by the Trump administration this year. Morris, 41, said she and a few others planned to set off fireworks as part of a noise demonstration outside the Prairieland Detention Center.
Upon arriving, Morris said she parked half a mile away and never got out of her car as she played on her Nintendo Switch and waited for the other people who rode with her.
That’s when she said she heard a gunshot and realized something had gone wrong.
“I don't know what happened,” Morris said in a phone call interview with KERA News. “We sure did not plan for any sort of violence or anything to go wrong like that.”
Ten people, including Morris, were arrested that night. Since then, seven more have been arrested in connection with the shooting.
Morris shared her story with KERA News in phone and in-person interviews from the Johnson County Jail, where she’s being detained as she faces state charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and terrorism, as well as federal charges of discharging a firearm during a violent crime and attempted murder of a federal officer.
But she maintains she had no plans to commit violence, nor did she have any knowledge of indication a planned shooting.
“The original intent was just to show solidarity with the detainees who hopefully lift their spirits with a fun fireworks display and go home,” she said. “If the officer got shot by someone, that person was acting alone. But they want to punish all of us.”
Conflicting stories
Within a few minutes of about 12 people arriving and setting off fireworks outside the facility on the night of July 4, correctional officers called Alvarado police, court records show. An officer showed up and several people began to flee the scene on foot and ignore verbal commands, according to recently obtained court documents.
A person in the woods then opened fire, hitting the Alvarado officer in the neck, court records say.
It’s unclear who allegedly began shooting among those arrested. An original complaint stated two people — one wearing a black mask and another wearing a green mask — opened fire on correctional officers and the Alvarado officer 20-30 times.
A recent complaint obtained by KERA News says new evidence suggests there was just one shooter that night, and 11 shell casings were recovered from the scene, “leading investigators to believe the initial 20-30 shell casings to be an inaccurate amount of spent rounds fired.”
The officer has since recovered, according to court records.
The FBI called what happened that night a “coordinated and targeted attack.” Court records allege Morris’ home was the “staging location” for the defendants to meet.
Morris claims neither is true. A few people met at her home to carpool before heading to the ICE facility as part of a nonviolent protest, she said. When they arrived at the detention center, Morris said she stayed in the car.
Since she was parked away from the facility, she said she doesn’t know exactly what happened that night, but knew she wanted no part of it as soon as she heard a gunshot.
“The minute that I thought something was going wrong like that, I tried to leave,” she said.
Morris said she drove away shortly after hearing the gunshots. She was stopped by a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office detective about a mile away, according to court documents, and that’s when she was arrested.
Police say they found an AR-15-style rifle, a pistol, ballistic vests, a helmet, a handheld radio, and ammunition. One of the weapons was registered to another defendant, Benjamin Song, according to court documents.
The next day, Morris' home was raided. Her wife, Stephanie Shiver, told KERA News in an interview agents broke windows and deployed flash grenades at her home and detained her along with her roommates for several hours.
Photos from the scene show a broken boarded-up window, a busted door frame, and other damage. Another roommate, Autumn Hill, was arrested in the raid.
Shiver emphasized July 4 was meant to be a show of solidarity with those detained in ICE detention centers.
“I am certain there was no plan for any kind of attack or ambush on any personnel or any facility,” Shiver said.
Treatment in jail
Morris has been in custody for about two months. A transgender woman, she said she’s been placed in segregated housing in the men’s side of the jail. She also said she was denied hormone replacement therapy medication the first month in custody. Jail staff eventually gave her the medication, Morris said, but recently cut the dosage in half and refused to give her a prescribed anti-inflammatory medication for her arthritis.
Morris claimed jailers told her they need proof her medications were prescribed by a doctor. Records shared with KERA News show a doctor faxed her medical records to the jail July 9.
Still, Morris said she’s been denied her prescriptions.
In an email to KERA News, Johnson County Lt. Keven George said he could not comment on the medical information of a person in custody. He said inmates receive prescribed medications, “unless a qualified medical provider determines, and documents, a valid medical reason to alter or discontinue the regimen.”
Morris’ family members also reached out to her public defender, asking for help in providing access to medical treatment.
Emails provided by her family show the attorney, Robert Luttrell, misgendered Morris and used her birth name several times. When asked to use Morris’ chosen name, Luttrell refused.
“I do not care what he calls himself,” Lutrell said in an email to Morris’ partner. “His legal name is Bradford Morris. That is what is on all of his legal documents. Therefore, he is Bradford Morris. He is being held in the male portion of the Johnson County jail as well. It is my understanding he has not had gender reassignment surgery and he has not legally changed his name or his gender.”
Morris says her name was legally changed in 2007, and jail and medical records list her under the name Meagan Morris.
Luttrell has not responded to multiple phone calls and emails requesting comment.
During an in-person interview with KERA News at the jail, Morris said she cries every night and is anxiously awaiting her next court date, which has not yet been scheduled, according to court records.
In a separate phone call, she called the allegations a “ridiculous suicide mission.”
“What, all 17 of us want to just throw our lives away?” she said. “For what? No, like, that's not something we would do."
Penelope Rivera is KERA's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope at privera@kera.org.
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