CULLMAN, Ala. – Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker on Wednesday, May 7, said that 58 felony cases have been dismissed due to the illegal actions of former Hanceville Police Department officers, including the police chief.
“Since Day 1, I have committed to being transparent and open with the citizens of Cullman County. Keeping with that commitment please find below the Alabama State Bureau of Investigations completed evidence audit of the Hanceville Police Department,” Crocker posted to his official Facebook page.
He continued, “The Grand Jury that unanimously indicted the former Hanceville police officers determined that those officers’ cases, and other cases from the Hanceville Police Department were unprosecutable. The same Grand Jury reconvened in April and voted to no-bill, or dismiss, 58 felony cases due to the illegal actions of those former Hanceville officers. Most of these cases involved drugs, and only a few were personal crimes with victims. One dismissal is too many, but the Grand Jury had no other recourse.”
Five Hanceville Police Department officers and one spouse of an officer were indicted by a grand jury and arrested in February following an investigation into the August 2024 death of dispatcher Christopher Michael Willingham, 49. The grand jury also recommended the Hanceville Police Department be abolished. The arrests were announced Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.
The six people charged are:
Officer Cody Alan Kelso
- Two counts of computer tampering – accessing records of the case of Ronald Dewayne Hogan, charged in the 2023 murder of Jeffery Glenn Wilhite, and accessing vehicle records to provide vehicle tag information to Eric Michael Kelso
- Solicitation to commit a controlled substance crime – solicited anabolic steroids from Eric and Donna Kelso
- Use of office for personal gain – traveled to a local hospital while on duty to receive a steroid injection from Donna Kelso
- Tampering with physical evidence – removing or mishandling evidence from the HPD evidence room
Officer Jason Scott Wilbanks
- Two counts of computer tampering – accessing records to provide information about unnamed individuals to “co-conspirator #1” and “co-conspirator #2”
- Two counts of use of office for personal gain – using a department phone to solicit controlled substances, and traveling to a local hospital while on duty to receive an anabolic steroid injection from Donna Kelso
- Tampering with physical evidence – removing or mishandling evidence from the HPD evidence room
- Two counts of solicitation to commit a controlled substance crime – soliciting anabolic steroids from Eric and Donna Kelso, and soliciting Hydrocodone from Eric Kelso
Chief Jason Shane Marlin
- Two counts of failure to report ethics crime – failing to report Jason Wilbanks and Cody Kelso for ethics violations after being notified by the State Bureau of Investigation
- Tampering with physical evidence – removing or mishandling evidence from the HPD evidence room
Officer William Andrew Shelnutt
- Tampering with physical evidence – removing or mishandling evidence from the HPD evidence room
Officer Eric Michael Kelso
- Four counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance – delivering anabolic steroids to Jason Wilbanks and Cody Kelso, Adderall to a Steven Wilhite not otherwise named in this case, and Hydrocodone to Jason Wilbanks
- Two counts of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute a controlled substance – conspiring with wife Donna Kelso to deliver steroids to Jason Wilbanks and Cody Kelso
Donna Reid Kelso (spouse of Eric Kelso)
- Two counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance – delivering anabolic steroids to Jason Wilbanks and Cody Kelso
- Two counts of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute a controlled substance – conspiring with husband Eric Kelso to deliver steroids to Wilbanks and Cody Kelso
The grand jury in February also issued the following findings and recommendations:
- That any current or former officer of Hanceville Police Department indicted be suspended from law enforcement by the Alabama Peace Officers Standards & Training Commission.
- That the Hanceville Police department be immediately abolished.
- That another law enforcement agency, whether state or local, be tasked with protecting the citizens of Hanceville.
- Based upon the investigation by State Bureau of Investigation, we find that the Hanceville Police Department is a particular and ongoing threat to public safety.
- There is a rampant culture of corruption in the Hanceville PD which has recently operated as more of a criminal enterprise than a law enforcement agency.
- That the Hanceville PD has abused public trust by its failure of oversight, lack of leadership and negligent training and hiring.
- That the Hanceville police department has failed to account for, preserve and maintain evidence and in doing so has failed crime victims and the public at large. The evidence is unusable.
- This grand jury toured the Hanceville Jail on Feb 12, 2025. We have zero confidence in the Hanceville police department’s ability to maintain a jail or to meet basic health and safety needs of jail personnel or inmates.
- That the death of former Hanceville dispatcher Chris Willingham is the direct result of Hanceville Police Department’s negligence, lack of procedure, general incompetence, and disregard for human life.
In March, the Hanceville City Council voted to suspend the police department.
In announcing the 58 dismissed cases on May 7, Crocker posted, “We have included the audit, a complete list of dismissed cases and photographs from the audit showing the unmarked firearms, missing cash and the general condition of the Hanceville evidence room.”
Those photos and documents are shown below.
