Franklin County deputies say the victim was found dead in a recliner after his wife called 911.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ala. — A 65-year-old Russellville woman is charged with murder after deputies said she called 911 and admitted shooting her husband Sunday evening inside their Duncan Creek Road home.

Sheri Mitchell-Clutts is accused in the death of 69-year-old Timothy Clutts, who deputies said was found dead in a living room recliner with a single gunshot wound to the chest. The case moved quickly from emergency call to arrest because, authorities said, Mitchell-Clutts remained at the home, spoke with deputies and acknowledged firing the shot. Investigators are still working through what happened before the shooting and why the account she first gave changed during questioning.

The call came in around 7:25 p.m. May 10, according to Franklin County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kyle Palmer. Palmer said Mitchell-Clutts told a dispatcher she had killed her husband and believed he was going to kill her that day. She stayed on the phone until deputies arrived. “I have to give the dispatcher credit,” Palmer said. “She told her where to leave the gun and she walked straight to the deputies when they arrived.” The response took deputies to a home on Duncan Creek Road, a rural stretch in Russellville, about 20 miles south of Muscle Shoals. Inside, they found Timothy Clutts in the chair. A handgun was recovered at the scene.

Investigators said the first account centered on fear. Mitchell-Clutts allegedly told authorities she believed her husband’s actions through the day were threatening. Deputies later said that explanation gave way to a different picture. She had undergone open-heart surgery about two weeks earlier, authorities said, and Timothy Clutts had been checking on her while she recovered. A sheriff’s office spokesperson said investigators believe he had gone into the bedroom to see whether she needed help. Mitchell-Clutts allegedly said he poked her, asked if she was hungry and brought her food after she said she was. Authorities have not said he made any verbal threat. They also have not said there was a fight in the living room before the shot was fired.

The sheriff’s office said the later account placed Timothy Clutts away from his wife when he was shot. Authorities said Mitchell-Clutts told investigators her husband had been coming into her room and bothering her, so she got a gun in case he came back. But he instead went to the living room to watch television. Deputies said she then went looking for him, found him seated in the recliner and fired once. That version is central to the murder allegation because it describes the victim as sitting alone when the shot was fired. Investigators have not publicly released a full transcript of the 911 call, body camera video or a written statement from Mitchell-Clutts.

Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver said the case stood out because deputies did not have to search for a fleeing suspect or build the first steps of the investigation around denial. “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.” Oliver said that openness raised more questions for investigators, including what may have been happening in the home and what Mitchell-Clutts’ state of mind may have been. He said her demeanor at the scene appeared upset, but he cautioned that deputies could not know what was going through her mind.

Deputies also began checking the couple’s history with law enforcement. Oliver said investigators reviewed six years of call logs tied to the home and, as of his public comments, had not found previous domestic-related calls there. That detail does not answer what happened inside the home on May 10, but it shaped the early view of a case in which the alleged confession came before investigators had to piece together a suspect. Authorities have described the death as a domestic violence homicide because the people involved were married and because a gun was used in the alleged killing. Mitchell-Clutts and Timothy Clutts had been married for 15 years, according to reports citing investigators.

Mitchell-Clutts was booked into the Franklin County Jail at 9:43 p.m. May 10, jail records show. Her listed charge is murder of a family member with a gun in a domestic violence case. The jail roster listed bond at $0.00. Officials said she was being held without bond pending an Aniah’s Law hearing, a proceeding used in Alabama in some serious cases when prosecutors seek to keep a defendant jailed before trial. It was not immediately clear from available records whether she had entered a plea or whether an attorney had appeared for her. Timothy Clutts’ body was sent for an autopsy, according to reports citing investigators.

The shooting left a narrow but stark set of facts for investigators to develop. Deputies had a dead man in a recliner, a gun recovered in the home, a 911 call from the accused shooter and two accounts of why the shot was fired. What remains less clear is what, if anything, happened in the hours before the call and whether medical issues, fear, anger or some other factor played a role. Authorities have not released results from the autopsy, the full call log review or any forensic findings from the gun. The sheriff’s office has said the investigation remains active as the case moves into court.

For neighbors and relatives, the public record so far offers few answers beyond the charge itself. Timothy Clutts was described by authorities mainly through the scene where he was found, seated in the living room after a quiet evening turned fatal. Mitchell-Clutts, meanwhile, is described in records by her age, address, charge and custody status. Oliver said cases that appear simple can still leave investigators with difficult questions. “You know, which leads us to a bunch of questions,” he said, “what might have been going on with her.” Deputies have not announced any additional arrests.

The investigation now turns on the 911 recording, autopsy findings and court filings that may explain what happened before the single shot inside the Duncan Creek Road home.<

Author note: Last updated June 4, 2026.