Shelby County charged John Wesley McClain with murder after Courtney Lewis was found shot in Wilton.

A murder charge added after a traffic stop is the accusation. It is not a finding that he fired the shot. WBRC's account of court documents puts the shooting at about 5:50 a.m. The sheriff's office put the call at about 6:05 a.m. Those clocks are not the same moment, and neither story reports a bond or a plea.

WVTM, updated at 5:19 p.m. CDT Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, reported the Shelby County Sheriff's Office said a Calera man was charged with murder after a woman was found shot to death at a Wilton home. The station reported deputies responded to a report of a shooting on Selma Street at about 6:05 a.m. Oct. 25, found 35-year-old Cortney Lewis of Calera dead at the scene with a gunshot wound, and later charged John Wesley McClain, 44, of Calera. AL.com, updated at 3:33 p.m. Tuesday, reported deputies and Montevallo police were dispatched at 6:05 a.m. Sunday to a home on Selma Street in the Wilton community, that Courtney Lewis, 35, also of Calera, was pronounced dead on the scene, and that McClain was charged with murder. WBRC reported deputies got a call that someone was shot around 6:05 a.m. Sunday and found a woman dead from what looked to be a gunshot wound along Selma Street, not far from Wilton Baptist Church. Cortney, in WVTM and in the sheriff's quotation, and Courtney, in the AL.com story and in WBRC's body, are two spellings. WBRC reported court documents alleged that around 5:50 a.m. Sunday, McClain shot and killed 35-year-old Courtney Renae Lewis. A document's 5:50 a.m. and a dispatch time of 6:05 a.m. are not the same clock. The murder count is the charge. It is not a conviction.

How he was first arrested is the same sequence in the three accounts, with a different level of detail. WVTM and WBRC reported investigators identified him as a person of interest, deputies stopped his vehicle, and he was arrested on first-degree unlawful possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and illegal possession of prescription drugs, and that he was later charged with murder. AL.com reported he was taken into custody a short time later during a traffic stop, initially arrested on multiple drug charges, and held pending the murder warrant. Multiple drug charges, in AL.com, and the three named drug counts, in WVTM and WBRC, are the same stop described at two levels of detail. WVTM reported the sheriff's office said investigators have no information indicating anyone else was involved or that there is an ongoing threat to the community, and that the investigation remains ongoing. WBRC reported Montevallo police responded as well and that the investigation is still underway. None of the three reported a bond, a lawyer, a plea, or a next court date.

Sheriff John Samaniego's statement is not printed at the same length. WVTM reported he said, "Our hearts are with Cortney Lewis's family and loved ones as they face this tragic loss," that he commended deputies and investigators, and that he said, "While an arrest has been made, our work is not finished. We remain committed to following the evidence and conducting a thorough investigation." WBRC reported the same statement, including the commendation, and used Cortney inside the quotation. AL.com used Courtney in the story and Cortney inside a shorter quotation that includes the hearts line and the unfinished-work line, and that does not include the commendation sentence. WBRC reported the office asked anyone with information to call the sheriff's office at (205) 670-6000 or Investigator Bulgrin at (205) 670-6122, or Crime Stoppers at (205) 254-7777. AL.com reported the same two sheriff's numbers, with 6122 first, and the same Crime Stoppers number. An arrest and a murder charge are the steps those outlets reported. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.