Christopher Bullock
A prosecutor told a jury in Walker County on Monday that a former Seventh-day Adventist preacher killed his girlfriend of two months, then shot himself.
Winston Franklin said Christopher Bullock shot 51-year-old Tammy Cropper three times before shooting himself. It happened at The Woodland apartments in Rossville on Oct. 5, 2023.
Ashley Williamson of the Public Defender's Office said it could have been someone else who shot the pair, including Ms. Cropper's former longtime boyfriend.
Bullock, who was 48 at the time of the incident, is charged with malice murder, felony murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was not seriously injured in the incident.
Prosecutor Franklin said Bullock had been married for 17 years to his wife Sonya when they split up. He quit the ministry and he afterward lived with several different women, it was stated. Bullock had been with Ms. Cropper for just two months at her Apt. C3 at the time of the incident.
He said Bullock made a suicide attempt in 2021.
The prosecutor said the nine-year boyfriend of Ms. Cropper, Tim Matthews, is "not a nice person," but he said he was not the killer in the case. He said Matthews has an alibi. Also, he said the door to the apartment was locked that day and there was no way to get in. And, he said an Internet repair man was working across from the front door for a lengthy time that morning.
The shooting apparently happened at mid-morning, though the blood-covered bodies were not found until 2:30 p.m.
Prosecutor Franklin said a bullet taken from the back of Ms. Cropper came from a gun that Bullock owned.
Of the alleged murder-suicide attempt, the prosecutor said of Bullock, "He made it a crime when he decided he wouldn't go by himself but would take her with him."
Attorney Williamson said the evidence showed that Bullock and Ms. Cropper got along well. She said there were no sounds of arguing coming from the apartment unit that day.
She told the jury that the shot that grazed the head of Bullock entered the left side, though he is right handed.
Attorney Williamson said Ms. Cropper and Tim Matthews had a stormy breakup. She said he let it be known that "he hated her," and he made threats against her. She said Ms. Cropper took out two orders of protection against Matthews.
Rossville Police Sergeant Chase Galyon said he and other officers found Bullock lying in bed and Ms. Cropper on the floor by the bed. Both were covered with blood. He said she was dead, and it first appeared that Bullock was too. However, he then made a sound and a movement.
Sgt. Galyon said Bullock was asked if he had shot himself and he said, "Yes." Attorney Williamson said his answer was more like a moan than a yes.
Pamela Ford, daughter of Ms. Cropper, said she and her boyfriend, Derrick Hardin, had lived in Apt. C3 initially with her two children, ages 11 and 7, until Ms. Cropper kicked them out due to their drug problems and not working. The children stayed on with Ms. Cropper.
She said at first it seemed her mother and Bullock got along "like a cupcake thing," going motorcycling together and other activities. But she said the day before the shooting she saw Bullock herding her mother toward the apartment after they arrived home.
Ms. Ford said on Oct. 5, 2023, she picked up her young son at school and they went to the Cropper apartment. The door was locked, which she said was highly unusual.
Ms. Ford said she went back to her car to get a key. She said her son entered the apartment first and found the bodies. He told her, "Mom, you don't want to go back there."
Ms. Ford said she found her mother dead and Bullock "making awful groaning sounds." She said a gun was lying near him, and she picked it up, dangling it so it would not go off.
She said she got her mother's phone and noticed it was already set to call 911. She said, "She didn't have time to call."
Derrick Hardin said he also initially thought that Bullock was dead. He said it appeared that Ms. Cropper had been dead for several hours.
Jimmy Campbell, maintenance man who lived in the same building as Ms. Cropper, said her grandchildren played with his kids. He said that after the shooting the boy who found the bodies was invited down to stay with them to get him away from the situation.
Christy Drew, who lived just above Ms. Cropper, said that morning she heard a loud pop, then heard "a man sobbing loudly." She said it happened sometime between 9:30 and 11 a.m.
She said the next thing she heard from that unit was in the afternoon "when I heard her daughter making a commotion."