The Franklin County sheriff said the suspect’s statements made the case direct but not simple.
RUSSELLVILLE, Ala. — Franklin County deputies say Sheri Mitchell-Clutts did not run, hide the gun or deny the shooting when they arrived at her home May 10.
That openness is now part of what makes the death of Timothy Clutts so unsettling for investigators. Mitchell-Clutts, 65, is charged with murder after authorities said she shot her 69-year-old husband once in the chest while he sat in a living room recliner. The sheriff’s office said she called 911 herself, stayed at the scene and admitted firing the shot. Yet investigators said her explanations changed, and they are still trying to answer why the shooting happened.
Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver said homicide investigations often begin with a search for the person who fled or with evidence that must be built before a suspect can be identified. This case, he said, did not start that way. “There’s a number of cases where someone does something like this,” Oliver said. “You’re actually having to track them down and find them and build evidence based on the scene. And in this situation she was pretty open.” That statement framed the early investigation as both unusually clear and incomplete. Deputies knew who had called. They knew who had been shot. They knew where the handgun was recovered. What they did not know, Oliver said, was what had been going on with her or with him before the shot.
The 911 call came around 7:25 p.m. from the couple’s residence on Duncan Creek Road in Russellville. Sgt. Kyle Palmer said Mitchell-Clutts told a dispatcher she had killed her husband and believed he had been going to kill her. Palmer said the dispatcher kept her on the line and told her where to leave the gun before deputies reached the home. When officers arrived, Palmer said, Mitchell-Clutts walked to them. Inside, deputies found Timothy Clutts dead in the recliner. The injury was described as a single gunshot wound to the chest. The sheriff’s office said the handgun used in the shooting was recovered inside the house.
Oliver said Mitchell-Clutts appeared upset during his limited interaction with her, but he stopped short of drawing conclusions from that. The sheriff said investigators cannot know from a brief scene contact what a person was thinking. That caution left the case open to several lines of inquiry, including medical recovery, fear, anger, confusion or some combination not yet established in public records. Authorities said Mitchell-Clutts had undergone open-heart surgery about two weeks earlier. They said Timothy Clutts had been checking on her in the bedroom. A sheriff’s office spokesperson said investigators believe he came into the room because of her recent surgery and concern for her well-being.
Authorities said Mitchell-Clutts first framed the day as threatening. She allegedly told dispatchers and investigators that she feared her husband’s actions and believed he might kill her. Later, according to the sheriff’s office, the explanation shifted. She said he had been coming into her room and bothering her. Investigators said she claimed she got the gun in case he returned. Instead, Timothy Clutts went to the living room to watch television. Deputies said Mitchell-Clutts then went to the living room and shot him once as he sat in the chair. A spokesperson said Timothy Clutts had poked her, asked if she was hungry and brought her food after she said yes, and that he had not made verbal threats.
The two accounts create the central tension in the case. A fear claim could point investigators toward self-defense evidence, prior conflict or a direct threat. The later account, as described by deputies, points toward irritation and a decision to confront a man who had gone to another room. Authorities have not released the full recorded statements, so the exact words, timing and tone remain unknown. They also have not said whether Mitchell-Clutts was under the influence of medication, whether medical records are being reviewed or whether any mental health evaluation has been ordered. Those unknowns may become important as the case moves through court.
The sheriff’s office also looked backward. Oliver said investigators reviewed six years of call logs tied to the address and had not found domestic-related calls. That finding does not close the question of what the marriage was like, but it means deputies did not start with a known record of domestic responses at the home. The couple had been married for 15 years, according to reports citing authorities. The home’s location, in a small community where police calls can quickly become known, added to the shock of a case that began with a direct confession but few public signs of a long-running police history.
Mitchell-Clutts was booked into the Franklin County Jail at 9:43 p.m. May 10. Jail records list her charge as murder of a family member with a gun in a domestic violence case and list bond at $0.00. Officials said she was being held without bond pending an Aniah’s Law hearing. That hearing is expected to focus on whether she should remain jailed while the case is pending. It was not immediately clear whether she had entered a plea or retained counsel. The body of Timothy Clutts was sent for an autopsy, and those findings may help establish the shot path, distance and other details relevant to the prosecution.
The physical evidence publicly described so far is limited but direct. Deputies have identified one gunshot wound, one recovered handgun and one victim found seated. They have not released reports on fingerprints, gunshot residue, shell casing location or whether any other weapons were found in the home. They also have not released the dispatcher’s recording, which could show how Mitchell-Clutts described the shooting in the minutes after it happened. The 911 call may become a key piece of evidence because it captured her first version before deputies questioned her at the scene.
The case now sits between a clear admission and a contested explanation. Prosecutors may emphasize that Timothy Clutts was allegedly watching television and seated alone. Defense issues may focus on the first fear claim, recent surgery and Mitchell-Clutts’ condition. Investigators will have to sort those points through reports, forensic evidence and interviews with anyone who knew the couple’s recent circumstances. Oliver’s public comments show that deputies do not view the confession as the end of the work. They view it as the start of a harder question about motive and state of mind.
For investigators, the open admission has not ended the harder work. The next public answers are expected through sworn testimony, forensic reports and the first major court filings.
Author note: Last updated June 4, 2026.