In the late hours of a November evening in 2020, the life of 35-year-old Cody Cline was brought to a violent and tragic end in Hopkins, Michigan. On November 2nd, the white/caucasian male was discovered in the driveway of his Monterey Township residence, having sustained a fatal gunshot wound. The events of that night would unravel a story of a confrontation turned deadly, leaving a community in shock and a family grappling with a sudden loss.
Investigations into the death of Cody Cline
quickly pointed to a suspect, 27-year-old Nolan Curtis Woodworth. It is believed that Woodworth was visiting Cline's home when an altercation erupted. The situation escalated horrifically, resulting in Woodworth allegedly shooting Cline in the back of the head. In a further act of brutality, it was reported that Woodworth then ran over Cline with his vehicle before hastily fleeing the scene of the crime. His attempt to escape was short-lived, however, as he was apprehended in the Grand Rapids area after his vehicle crashed into a tree.
Following his capture, Nolan Curtis Woodworth was charged with open murder by the Allegan County Sheriff's Office. The legal proceedings that followed were complex. The Allegan County Prosecutor's Office extended a plea offer that would have allowed Woodworth to plead guilty to second-degree murder, an offer he chose to reject. In response, Woodworth's defense team proposed a counter-plea of manslaughter along with a habitual offender charge, which was subsequently declined by the prosecution.
With no plea agreement in place, the stage was set for a jury trial, which was scheduled to commence in March of 2022. The case against Nolan Curtis Woodworth for the death of Cody Cline would now be left to the courts to decide, as a community awaited justice for a life cut tragically short.
