A man named Jonathan Welch from Detroit, Michigan, accused of killing his mother, stepfather, and ex-girlfriend after being released from jail on bond has been charged with yet another murder, his fourth. The latest murder he has been charged with is that of, Natayla Morse, who was just 24 years old at the time of her death. The alleged murder occurred before his original arrest in June of 2022.
Allegedly, Welch killed Morse with blunt force trauma to her head and stole her car. He then proceeded to set it on fire. Afterward, he went ahead and tortured his ex-girlfriend Zlayiah Frazier. Fox News Digital reports that he tortured her and sexually assaulted her, saying:
Wayne County prosecutors said he initially attacked and sexually assaulted his former girlfriend a few days after Morse was found dead. He allegedly strangled the ex, poured gasoline on her, threatened to assault her with a drill, burned her arms and legs with a metal spatula, before attempting to sexually assault her using a pole.
The victim told investigators that Welch wrapped the cord around her neck and would strangle her, then release, before reapplying pressure. She said he also heated up the spatula on the stove and then put it on her arm.
Welch was arrested for the alleged torture and assault and released on a $100,000 bond.
And what happened after the city let loose a man who had just brutally tortured a woman? After being released on a $100,000 bond for torturing her, he barricaded himself in his mom’s home and opened fire on cops. He then set the house on fire and killed his mom and stepfather, burning them to death. And all of that because the city wouldn’t just keep him locked up.
After arresting Welch for the murders of his parents and ex-girlfriend, the city realized that he had also killed Morse and charged him with her murder as well.
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s office described Welch’s horrific torturing of his ex-girlfriend in a news release, saying:
Prosecutor Kym Worthy has charged Jonathan Milamont Welch, 23, (DOB 05/06/1999), in connection with the torture and sexual assault of his 22-year-old girlfriend. They resided together in Detroit.
On June 2, 2022, at 7:24 a.m. Detroit police officers were dispatched to a home in the 13000 block of Kilbourne Avenue for a domestic violence assault. It is alleged that Welch woke the victim when he was sexually assaulting her at 3:00 a.m. on June 2, 2022. He demanded the password to the victim’s cell phone. When she refused, he physically assaulted her, placed an extension cord around her neck and strangled her.
He is alleged to have poured gasoline on her body, burned her arms and legs with a metal spatula, and attempted to sexually assault her with a large pole. Over the course of the attack he also beat her with his belt and threatened her with a drill. When Welch went into the kitchen, she was able to run out of the front door to the home to a neighbor’s house on Kilbourn. Welch followed her onto the porch and pulled on the victim but left the neighbor’s porch. Once he was gone the neighbors took her into their house, gave the victim a blanket to cover herself and called 911. This is when Welch returned and kicked in the neighbors’ door and left the location in a car before officers arrived on the scene. Investigation by Detroit police officers lead to the arrest of the defendant at 11:24 a.m. on the same day.
Defendant Welch has been charged with Torture, Home Invasion Frist Degree Harmful Device – Use/Possession Causing Injury, Criminal Sexual Conduct 3rd Degree, Assault with Intent to Commit Sexual Penetration, Assault with Intent to Do Great Bodily Harm, and three counts of Felonious Assault. *
Welch was arraigned on June 12, 2022 before Magistrate Dawn White and received a 100,000/10% cash/surety bond with a tether and was ordered to have no contact with the defendant. His Probable Cause Conference is on June 21, 2022, and his Preliminary Examination is on June 28, 2022 before Judge Kenneth King.
“The alleged horrific torture that our survivor suffered at the hands of the defendant will stop you in your tracks. We will be moving for a higher bond after the proofs are placed on the record at the Preliminary Examination.
Featured image credit: Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office
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