Birmingham, AL 03/17/2017
A death investigation that began Wednesday afternoon has resulted in a capital murder charge against the suspect described as the boyfriend of the victim.
Just before 2:00 pm Wednesday afternoon deputies responded to a home in the 2000 block of Rock Mountain Lake Drive. The caller reported that he had arrived home after being out of town for several days and found someone he believed asleep in his bedroom.
Deputies arrived and checked the home. The body of an adult white female was found deceased in the bedroom. The body appeared to have been at the location for several days. The homeowner reported no one should have been in the home and the person found was unknown to him.
Sheriff’s detectives began reviewing recent reports of missing persons and discovered that the victim matched the description of a woman who was reported missing to the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office. The medical examiner confirmed that the victim was 39-year-old Christy Lynn Cook.
Cook was last seen in Carrolton, AL on March 7, 2017, when she left with her boyfriend for a trip to Tennessee. The pair was traveling in a black Chevrolet pickup truck towing a boat. The boyfriend was found disoriented and wandering along Highway 11 near Attalla on March 8 and the truck was found abandoned in a wooded area in Etowah County on March 10.
The boyfriend was treated at and released from an Etowah County hospital and then returned to Pickens County.
Sheriff’s detectives contacted investigators in Pickens County to gather information about the victim and learned that the boyfriend was in their office. They traveled to Pickens County to question him.
Anthony Gene McClellan
During questioning, the suspect, 40-year-old Anthony Gene McClellan of Carrolton, AL, told different stories about what led to the death of the victim. He claimed that the victim had driven them to the home and he had never been there before. They broke into the home and, while inside; he claimed that he accidentally shot the victim twice.
McClellan was taken into custody Wednesday night and held in the Jefferson County Jail.
Detectives continued the investigation through Thursday. This morning, the results of the investigation were presented to the District Attorney and an arrest warrant was issued formally charging McClellan with Capital Murder during Burglary 1st Degree. He remains in the Jefferson County Jail with no bond.