On September 7, 2025, deputies from the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office conducting a welfare check at a home on Old Highway 411 in Coats Bend, just outside Gadsden, found the bodies of 57-year-old Kelley Davis Thornton and 71-year-old James Timothy Thornton. Both had been fatally shot. Investigators from the Sheriff’s Office, the Jacksonville State University Center for Applied Forensics, and the Etowah County District Attorney’s Office processed the scene and collected forensic evidence while the investigation remained active.

Friends and neighbors remembered Kelley and Timothy as long-time residents and good people; the violent nature of their deaths left the close-knit community shocked. No suspects, motive, or arrests have been announced publicly, and officials said they did not believe there was an immediate danger to the public.

If anyone knew Kelley or Timothy or has information about their movements or contacts around September 7, 2025, please come forward to assist the investigation.