In the quiet community of McCalla, Alabama, the life of 39-year-old Christy Lynn Cook was tragically cut short in March of 2017. A white female, Cook was reported missing to the Pickens County Sheriff's Office after she failed to arrive at her destination in Tennessee. She was last seen on March 7, 2017, embarking on the trip with her boyfriend.
Several days later, on a Wednesday afternoon, deputies from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office responded to a call from a homeowner in the
Rock Mountain Lakes area. The resident, having been away for several days, returned to find what he believed to be someone sleeping in his bedroom. Upon investigation, authorities discovered the deceased body of a woman who had been there for some time. The homeowner did not know the individual.
Sheriff's detectives, working with the medical examiner, soon identified the victim as Christy Lynn Cook. An investigation quickly determined that her death was a homicide. Attention then turned to her boyfriend, 40-year-old Anthony Gene McClellan of Carrolton, Alabama. McClellan had been found disoriented and wandering along a highway in Etowah County the day after Cook was last seen. The truck they had been traveling in, which was towing a boat, was later found abandoned in a wooded area.
After being treated and released from a hospital, McClellan returned to Pickens County where he was questioned by investigators. During the interrogation, he provided conflicting accounts of the events leading to Cook's death. He claimed that they had broken into the Rock Mountain Lakes home and that he had accidentally shot her twice while inside.
Based on the investigation, Anthony Gene McClellan was taken into custody and formally charged with Capital Murder in connection with the death of Christy Lynn Cook. He was held in the Jefferson County Jail without bond. The charge specified that the murder occurred during a first-degree burglary. While the arrest and charges were announced, further details regarding a trial, conviction, or sentence have not been made publicly available.
