In the small community of Crossroads, near Bay Minette, Alabama, a dispute that had been simmering for some time between two men who were once friends reached a tragic and fatal conclusion on the afternoon of Monday, January 25, 2021. Chase Devin Childress, Sr., a 29-year-old man, was shot and killed in what authorities believe was the first homicide of the year in Baldwin County. The incident unfolded around 4 p.m.
in the vicinity of Whippoorwill Lane and Alabama 225.
Deputies arriving at the scene discovered Childress with gunshot wounds. They administered life-saving measures until medical units could take over. He was first transported to a local emergency room before being transferred to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, where he was initially listed in critical condition. Despite the efforts to save him, Chase Childress succumbed to his injuries later that evening. He was a husband and a father to a daughter and a son.
The man accused of the shooting, Christopher Lee Atchison, who was 30 years old at the time, was taken into custody. Investigators stated that Childress and Atchison had a 'long history,' having been friends and even neighbors at one point. The relationship had soured over time. On the day of the shooting, it is believed that Atchison had gone to check on property he owned in the Crossroads area when an argument erupted between him and Childress. The confrontation escalated, leading to Childress being shot in the parking lot of a closed restaurant.
Following the shooting, Atchison was arrested and initially charged with first-degree assault and attempted murder. After Childress passed away, the charges against Atchison were upgraded to murder. He was booked into the Baldwin County Corrections Facility and held without bond. Investigators believe the shooting was the result of a 'brutal argument that escalated' and that Childress was unarmed when the single shot was fired at close range. The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office continued to investigate the case to present their findings to the District Attorney's Office.
