CLARKE COUNTY, Ala. — The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has opened a death investigation into the killing of the Clarke County coroner’s father, who was found with a gunshot wound at his Coffeeville home overnight.
John Craig Milstead, 58, was the father of Clarke County Coroner Matthew Milstead. According to Clarke County District Attorney Stephen Winters, Craig Milstead died at his Coffeeville home around midnight.
What ALEA Said
According to an ALEA news release, the agency launched the death investigation at the request of the Clarke County District Attorney’s Office.
Officials said Clarke County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to a home on Highway 154 in Coffeeville for a report of domestic violence. Deputies arrived at the home and allegedly found Milstead dead from a gunshot wound.
ALEA officials said they will turn over the investigation’s findings to the district attorney’s office.
The case is being handled by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, ALEA’s investigative division. No one has been arrested.
Why an Outside Agency Was Brought In
The referral to ALEA is the most procedurally significant element of the case, and the reason is straightforward: the deceased was the father of the county official whose statutory duty is to investigate and certify deaths in that county.
Under Alabama law, a county coroner is responsible for investigating deaths that are sudden, violent, unexpected or unattended, and for determining cause and manner of death. In a county the size of Clarke, that office is small, and the coroner works closely with the same sheriff’s deputies and prosecutors on every case.
A death within the coroner’s own immediate family creates an unavoidable conflict. The coroner cannot investigate his own father’s death, and a local investigation conducted alongside him would face questions regardless of how carefully it was performed. Requesting ALEA removes the local office from the chain entirely and places the work with state agents who have no relationship to the family.
District attorneys across Alabama routinely refer cases to ALEA under similar circumstances — deaths involving law enforcement officers, public officials or their relatives — precisely so that the findings are not subject to a conflict-of-interest challenge later.
What Is and Is Not Known
Winters said Craig Milstead died at his Coffeeville home around midnight, and did not give a cause of death, but said the man had gunshot wounds when officers arrived.
Officials said Matthew Milstead was at his father’s home when his father died. Matthew Milstead has served as Clarke County coroner since January 2023.
The call that brought deputies to the residence was reported as domestic violence. Authorities have not said who placed the call, what was reported, or how the reported disturbance relates to the death. No cause or manner of death has been released, no charges have been filed, and no one has been arrested.
Alabama death investigations of this type generally include an autopsy performed by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, scene processing, ballistic and forensic examination and witness interviews. Findings are then delivered to the district attorney, who decides whether to present the matter to a grand jury.
Coffeeville and Clarke County
Coffeeville is a small town in southern Clarke County, near the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers. Highway 154 runs through the area. Clarke County, with a county seat at Grove Hill, has a population in the low 20,000s spread across a largely rural area between Mobile and Thomasville.
In a county that size, the coroner, sheriff’s deputies and district attorney’s staff are a small and interconnected group of officials. That is context for the referral, not an allegation about anyone involved.
Resources
The Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence operates a statewide hotline at 1-800-650-6522, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached at 1-800-799-7233 or by texting START to 88788. Both are confidential and available 24 hours a day.
This story is developing. ALEA has not announced a timeline for completing its investigation.