District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch announced today that a Murphy man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Shirley McClure.
James Tyrone Smith, 59, was sentenced last week in Cherokee County Superior Court to serve a minimum of 317 months and a maximum of 393 months in prison, according to the district attorney.
On January 11, 2022, a boyfriend of one of McClure’s children discovered her body. Family members had gone to McClure’s home on Old Culberson Road in Murphy after not hearing from her for several days. McClure, 54, had died on January 7, 2022, from ligature strangulation.
Deputies from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office reviewed video footage from the day of the murder, identifying Smith driving the victim’s missing Nissan Rogue. After his arrest, Smith admitted to Chief Deputy Joe Wood that he had broken into McClure’s home to steal various items and killed her when she discovered him.
Superior Court Judge Tessa Sellers presided over the plea, and Assistant District Attorney John Hindsman Jr. prosecuted the case.
