When Morgan Ashlye Fox was gunned down outside her home at the hands of her co-worker, Jason McDermitt, on October 28, 2020, it left the city of Canton, Ohio, shaken to the core. That’s because the 29-year-old single mother seemed to be generous and kind, so no one could have ever imagined anyone wanting to hurt her in such a brutally heinous manner. This much is even iterated by her family in NBC’s ‘Dateline: Breaking Point,’ along with how they are still grieving and in pain over her tragic, untimely demise, even 6 years later.
Morgan Fox Hailed From a Tight-Knit Blended Family
Although Morgan Fox was born to Cyndi Pappas and Robert Fox on August 22, 1991, she never really grew up under both of their care at the same time, as they separated not long after. However, she was surrounded by their affection, love, support, and understanding at every step of her life as they built an incredible co-parenting relationship. She was thus raised in two households that never really had any bad blood between them, so the focus was purely on fostering only positive connections and experiences.

In fact, Morgan essentially had two sets of parents since her mother had fallen in love again and married Leo Pappas, whereas her father had happily tied the knot with Teresa Fox. As a result of these blissful unions, she ended up having a total of 12 siblings – whether it be full siblings, half-siblings, or step-siblings – and it appears as if she shared a close bond with almost all of them. Hence, her family support system alone comprised 16 souls, who were reportedly there for her through everything, including when she became a mother to a beautiful girl named Emilia Fox at age 21.
Morgan Fox’s Family Gave Power Statements During Her Killer’s Sentencing Hearing
It was not long after Morgan was shot to death outside her home in the early morning hours of October 28, 2020, that officials zeroed in on her co-worker, Jason McDermit, as a suspect. Therefore, when he shared a long post expressing his grief on his Facebook page within days, alongside an image of his late mother with the hashtag Justice for Morgan, her family was quite disturbed. They were glad when he was ultimately arrested for aggravated murder on November 4, 2020, following which they made sure he knew Morgan was never alone by attending every one of his court hearings.
Morgan’s family did breathe a sigh of relief when Jason was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in April 2021, but it definitely did not bring them closure. They claimed this much in their victim impact statements during his sentencing hearing, asserting how justice may have been served, but it will never make things okay because Morgan is forever gone. Her stepfather, Leo, even admitted he had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right with Jason after seeing him at Emilia’s birthday party, but Morgan had insisted he was just a “friend.”
Then, looking directly at Jason, he said, “Well, friends don’t ambush people and friends don’t shoot people in the head and destroy families.” He added that his own mother died of a broken heart not long after Morgan’s murder. Cyndi also expressed her anger in court, asking the convict, “You murdered her because she quit talking to you! Who does that?” Even Robert stated, “You’ve taken so much from so many people, and for that I want to see you struggle the rest of your life in prison…You can rot in hell the rest of your life.” Emilia also addressed Jason and said, in part, “I thought monsters weren’t real, but you proved me wrong. I love my mom… and I’ll never see her again because of (you).”
Morgan Fox’s Family Appears Dedicated to Keeping Her Legacy Alive
After Morgan’s tragic death, her family filed a civil lawsuit against her employer on the grounds that they could have prevented her murder by ensuring a safe workplace. FedEx Ground ultimately settled with them in December 2022, reportedly offering $4 million in total, but the terms of the resolution remain confidential. Since then, the late 29-year-old’s estate has revealed that while $1.3 million of the sum went to the attorneys who represented them in navigating the deal, $2 million was placed in a secured trust for Emilia. As for the remaining roughly $650,000, that was reportedly split between the rest of her family, including her loving, ever-supportive yet still grieving parents.
Since then, Morgan’s family has proudly established The Morgan Ashlye Fox Foundation with the aim of providing bereavement support to those who have lost loved ones to acts of violence. Inspired by Emilia, their primary focus is to support children who have lost a parent to violence, but they also offer the same resources to other family members as well as survivors of bullying, domestic violence, and workplace harassment. Regarding her parents’ current standing, while Cyndi seems to be dedicating most of her time to the Foundation these days, it appears that Leo is the President of Sales and Marketing at New Day RX. The Canton, Ohio, residents are also almost always surrounded by their children and their respective families, indicating that the community is a safe haven for their children as well as their grandchildren.
As for Robert and Teresa, from what we can tell, they prefer to keep their personal experiences well away from the limelight these days. So, all we know for certain is that, like Cyndi and Leo, they still ensure Morgan and her memories live on in their hearts. Last but not least, it seems like Emilia is now a teenager and was raised the same way her mother was; in a tight-knit blended family full of affection, love, support, and understanding. She is enveloped in the care of her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, who stand by her every step of the way.
Read More: Jason McDermitt: Where is the Killer Now?

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