Father: Henderson cop had relationship with teen sister-in-law Luke Morrison, who fatally shot an ice cream truck driver, is on paid leave

Henderson Police Press Conference On Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008, Chief Richard Perkins of the Henderson police department, held a press conference to address the shooting of 42-year-old Deshira Selimaj by police officer Luke Morrison.

A Henderson police officer is being accused of carrying on an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law since she was 15, according to court documents filed by the girl’s father.

The officer, Luke Morrison, 24, is the same officer who shot and killed an ice cream truck driver in 2008 after a traffic stop. Morrison and other officers said the woman driving the truck threatened them and one of her children with a knife, and though some witnesses disputed aspects of their account, a Clark County coroner’s jury ruled the shooting was justified.

Morrison has been on paid administrative leave for four weeks, pending the outcome of a Henderson Police Internal Affairs investigation. Officials with the department and the city declined to discuss the nature of the investigation.

Acting Human Resources Director Fred Horvath said today there has been no change in Morrison's employment status and that a review scheduled for this week has been postponed.

Clark County Family Court records show that Morrison’s father-in-law applied for a temporary protective order in April, asking the court to keep Morrison away from his daughter, then 17 and now 18. A judge declined to issue the order, ruling that there was no evidence of domestic violence to justify doing so.

Neither Morrison nor his father-in-law could be reached for comment.

In the application for the temporary restraining order, the woman’s father wrote that he became suspicious after he said his daughter skipped a day of school in March and then lied about her whereabouts.

In talking with family members, the father wrote that he learned his daughter had been observed leaving the house with Morrison in his vehicle or being dropped off at a friend’s house, only to leave with Morrison moments later.

He said he began checking his daughter’s cell phone records and discovered calls and texts between her and Morrison that dated back to 2007, when his daughter was 15 or 16 years old.

Additionally, he said another family member found a text message on his daughter’s phone after she left it at the family member’s house, which came from Morrison’s phone number and read: “Good night, I love you.”

Though his daughter’s cell phone records stopped showing calls and messages with Morrison last year, the father wrote that another family member witnessed her using a second cell phone at school.

The father wrote that the situation made him “sick to my stomach” and that Henderson Police began investigating his claims after he brought them to the department’s attention.