Morgan was killed in the early hours of February 19, 1972, at Slug's Saloon, a jazz club in New York City's East Village where his band was performing.[4] Following an altercation between sets, Morgan's common-law wife Helen More (a.k.a. Morgan) shot him. The injuries were not immediately fatal, but the ambulance was slow in arriving on the scene as the city had experienced heavy snowfall which resulted in extremely difficult driving conditions. They took so long to get there that Morgan bled to death. He was 33 years old.[4] Helen Morgan was arrested and spent some time in prison before being released on parole.[5] After her release, Helen Morgan returned to her native North Carolina and died there from a heart condition in March 1996.