LUDOWICI - Friday, an attorney from Long County was found dead at her home from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Ludowici Police Officer JD Campbell said he entered the home of Claira E. Mitcham, 58, at 6:38 a.m. Friday and found her lying across her bed with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.
Campbell said Mitcham had no pulse, and at that time he secured the home, at 12 Macon St.
Campbell said Barbra Moore was also at the residence, and had been staying with Mitcham over the previous two nights at the family's request. Moore told Campbell she checked on Mitcham at 6:18 that morning, and found her apparently dead. The woman then called a neighbor, and Mitcham's sister Marion Mitcham.
According to Campbell, a Long County EMS unit arrived at around 6:40, and the two medical technicians on the ambulance confirmed that the woman was dead.
At around 7:04 AM LPD Chief of Police Richard Robertson arrived and assumed control of the investigation.
According to Campbell, a .357 caliber handgun was found on the floor, near the bed, with one spent casing in the pistol's chamber.
According to Robertson, the body of Mitcham was turned over to the county coroner and then taken to Savannah, to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's crime lab.
Robertson also said the preliminary autopsy supported the conclusion that the cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Robertson said that the pistol and the rounds found at the scene were sent to the crime lab for a ballistics report.
Claira Mitcham was born and raised in Long County and had previously served as the Long County solicitor general for State Court. She also had worked in the Atlantic Judicial Circuit as a special assistant to the district attorney working on juvenile cases in all six of the district's counties, including Long and Liberty.
Ludowici Police Officer JD Campbell said he entered the home of Claira E. Mitcham, 58, at 6:38 a.m. Friday and found her lying across her bed with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.
Campbell said Mitcham had no pulse, and at that time he secured the home, at 12 Macon St.
Campbell said Barbra Moore was also at the residence, and had been staying with Mitcham over the previous two nights at the family's request. Moore told Campbell she checked on Mitcham at 6:18 that morning, and found her apparently dead. The woman then called a neighbor, and Mitcham's sister Marion Mitcham.
According to Campbell, a Long County EMS unit arrived at around 6:40, and the two medical technicians on the ambulance confirmed that the woman was dead.
At around 7:04 AM LPD Chief of Police Richard Robertson arrived and assumed control of the investigation.
According to Campbell, a .357 caliber handgun was found on the floor, near the bed, with one spent casing in the pistol's chamber.
According to Robertson, the body of Mitcham was turned over to the county coroner and then taken to Savannah, to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's crime lab.
Robertson also said the preliminary autopsy supported the conclusion that the cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Robertson said that the pistol and the rounds found at the scene were sent to the crime lab for a ballistics report.
Claira Mitcham was born and raised in Long County and had previously served as the Long County solicitor general for State Court. She also had worked in the Atlantic Judicial Circuit as a special assistant to the district attorney working on juvenile cases in all six of the district's counties, including Long and Liberty.