Former Cobb County classmates of a teenager allegedly gunned down by her uncle in Virginia are remembering a funny, sweet girl who befriended all sorts of students.
Morgan Dobyns, 15, attended Hightower Middle School and Lassiter High School in east Cobb before moving with her family last year to Appomattox, Va. Earlier this week, she was one of eight people shot to death in that state.
The AJC has learned that Morgan and at least three other victims lived in east Cobb for several years. The accused shooter, Christopher Bryan Speight, also is believed to have lived in the area.
Speight is accused of killing his sister Lauralee Sipe; her husband, Dwayne Sipe; as well as her two children, Morgan and Joshua Sipe, 4. Two other adults and two other teenagers also were killed, according to police.
According to records, Dwayne Sipe is also survived by two children, Alicia and David, who are in Georgia.
By Wednesday, word of Morgan's death was already spreading on school campuses. Lassiter sophomore Hayden Rucker heard the news from a classmate, and posts on Morgan's Facebook page confirmed the horrific news.
"She was just one of those people who was friends with everyone," Hayden said Friday. "She was just a really nice person."
Hayden said she and Morgan meet as middle school students, and then had a Spanish class together at Lassiter.
Students at nearby Pope High School also were shocked to learn of Morgan's death.
"Morgan was the kind of person that if you were sitting alone at lunch or didn't know anyone, she would introduce herself or pull you into her group of friends," Pope sophomore Hannah Johnson said. "I really admired her for that."
Morgan, whose father lives in Virginia, lived with her mother, stepfather and stepbrother in Cobb County. After living in the metro area, Speight is believed to have moved to the Appomattox area in recent years, living in his deceased mother's home.
Dwayne Sipe, 38, ran his own construction business in Georgia, but the company apparently took a financial hit and the family moved to Appomattox, according to the Associated Press. He was born in Baltimore and served in the U.S. Navy as a gunner on the USS Wisconsin during Operation Desert Storm, and was in the process of starting a new business in Virginia.
Lauralee Sipe and Speight both inherited a three-bedroom home on 34 acres in Appomattox, and they had hoped to remodel the home to accommodate their 100-year-old grandmother, who currently lives in an Atlanta nursing home. Last week, Sipe apparently signed a legal deed putting the home in her brother's name.
In addition to shooting his relatives, Speight is also accused of killing Ronald “Bo” Scruggs II, 16, a senior at Appomattox County High School; and Emily Quarles, 15, a freshman. The two were shot along with Quarles’ parents, Jonathan and Karen Quarles.
Speight apparently then shot at a police helicopter and hid in the woods before surrendering to police on Wednesday. Since then, Virginia police have detonated numerous explosives on the property. They also found body armor, night-vision equipment and food, water and sleeping bags stashed in various locations.
Speight had a history of mental problems and may have imagined that Lauralee Sipe wanted to kick him out of the family home in Appomattox, according to some media reports. Speight reportedly ran away from the Sipeses’ Marietta home in 2007, a year after his and Lauralee’s mother died.
Even after Morgan moved away, friends kept in touch with her on Facebook, never forgetting her friendly nature. A Facebook “fan page” was created for her, and by Friday afternoon it had nearly 1,600 fans. Students, teachers and friends posted notes and even pictures of the pretty girl with long, brown hair.
“Morgan I remember all the times during recess with you and Isha always eating honeysuckles. You will be greatly missed. Rest in peace,” posted Sophie Goodman, a sophomore at Pope High School.
Some Cobb students planned to wear purple on Monday to honor their friend, who loved the color.
Students also started an online petition in memory of Bo, Emily and Morgan, asking the Appomattox County school board to establish a memorial for the three students “so that it is a daily reminder to the students of the lives that were lost and a reminder for all those who cared for them.” The petition had 175 signatures Friday afternoon.
Morgan's funeral is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Virginia. Her friends say the friendly girl who loved to cook won't soon be forgotten.
"She could take almost any bad situation, for example a bad grade, and just smile it off," friend Hannah Johnson said. "She always made me smile."
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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