Former Hocking College Police Officer Cecil Morrison avoided jail time after pleading no contest to negligent homicide in the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Michael Whitmer in Nelsonville, Ohio.
The shooting happened on July 27, 2021, when Morrison responded to assist Nelsonville police during a domestic disturbance call at the Whitmer residence. According to WOUB Public Media, Morrison was working as a Hocking College police officer when he arrived and found Whitmer sitting in a red sedan in the driveway while another officer ordered him to get out of the car.
Instead of getting out, Whitmer attempted to back out of the driveway. His car struck a police cruiser that was partially blocking the driveway, and he moved forward and backward more than once as he tried to clear it.
Once Whitmer got the car out of the driveway, Morrison opened fire. WOUB reported that Morrison fired multiple shots into the car, shattering the driver’s side front and rear windows. Whitmer’s child was sitting in a car seat in the back seat on the passenger side. WOUB reported the child was not physically harmed.
The shooting was captured on body camera footage and later made public. A Nelsonville officer was also struck by ricocheting bullets and had to be hospitalized.
The case was reviewed by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn also hired two police-shooting experts to review the case. According to WOUB, the experts reached opposite conclusions about whether the shooting was justified, with the key disagreement being whether Whitmer was using the car as a weapon.
Blackburn ultimately concluded that the officers were not in harm’s way and that Morrison was not properly trained for the situation. Morrison was charged with negligent homicide eight months after the shooting.
On March 30, 2022, Morrison pleaded no contest to negligent homicide, a misdemeanor that could have carried up to six months in jail. Under the plea deal, he was not sentenced to jail. Instead, he was ordered to permanently surrender his Ohio Peace Officer Training Certificate, meaning he can no longer work as a law enforcement officer in Ohio.
A no contest plea is not the same as admitting guilt, but Morrison accepted the facts alleged in the criminal complaint. The result was still a conviction tied to an on-duty killing.
According to the Athens County Independent, Whitmer’s surviving spouse, Chelsea Whitmer, later filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit through her husband’s estate. The lawsuit alleged that Morrison used unreasonable deadly force and violated Whitmer’s constitutional rights.
The Athens County Independent later reported that the civil case was dismissed with prejudice in May 2025 after both sides agreed to the dismissal. The article noted that the circumstances pointed to a likely settlement agreement, though no public settlement terms were disclosed.
The criminal outcome left Morrison permanently barred from police work in Ohio, but without a jail sentence. For Whitmer’s family and critics of police violence, the case remains another example of how an on-duty killing can lead to a conviction while still ending with no time behind bars.
