A Crossville, Alabama, man has been charged with murder after DeKalb County authorities found the man's girlfriend strangled to death Saturday at a home in the Painter community.
Melissa Nicole Waldrep, 31, of Crossville, was pronounced dead at the scene after she was found by ambulance personnel and sheriff's deputies, according to a statement released by DeKalb County Sheriff's Office spokesman Tyler Pruett. The response was triggered by a call from a man reporting his girlfriend was unresponsive.
Christopher Lee SnowThe man authorities identified as her boyfriend, 33-year-old Christopher Lee Snow, was charged with murder Monday and is being held on a $250,000 cash bond, Pruett said.
A preliminary autopsy showed the cause of death to be strangulation, he added.
Officials with the DeKalb County coroner's office, the district attorney's office, and Jacksonville State University Center for Applied Forensics responded to the incident, DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden said.
Welden commended investigators with his department and other departments for a quick resolution to the case. Waldrep's slaying marks the second homicide of the month for DeKalb County.
"It's unfortunate that they've had to deal with yet another murder investigation this weekend," Welden said, referring to the slaying of 11-year-old Amberly Barnett, who was found dead March 2.
In that case, 33-year-old Christopher Wayne Madison, of Collinsville, was charged March 4 with killing the girl, whose body was found in a wooded area about 200 yards behind Madison's home. Madison is facing capital murder charges.
"Incidents involving violence are always a top priority to our investigative team. Those that take the life of another will be held accountable," Welden said in the release on Waldrep's slaying. "I pray that these incidents are not the start of a trend in our county."
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.