Investigators in Alabama made a disturbing discovery after a 4-year-old child arrived at a hospital with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The accident occurred April 4, 2025, at a home in Oneonta. It led to the arrest of the child’s parents, Cassandra Lynn Lutz, 39, and Alexander Andrew Corrie, 27. The couple reportedly brought the child to the hospital to be treated for two wounds received from a single shot. Staff contacted authorities, who launched an investigation that ended at the family’s animal-filled home.
According to WBRC, hospital staff contacted authorities after Lutz and Corrie brought their son to the emergency room. At one point, Lutz allegedly yelled at the child, “This is what happens when you play with guns.”
Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon addressed the media during a news conference following Lutz and Corrie’s arrests. He said when deputies went to the family’s home, they found dozens of animals, both alive and dead, including a crocodile or caiman in an aquarium.
The sheriff’s office, in partnership with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, removed the animals from the home.
Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey said after executing a search warrant, investigators allegedly found multiple unsecured firearms, drug paraphernalia, and marijuana, according to WSFA. Authorities collected 24 live snakes, six dead snakes, and a juvenile crocodile.
Moon said in a news conference that authorities could not determine the species of several snakes but believe most were constrictors. Multiple snakes had died and were covered in maggots inside containers with live animals. Moon alleged the home had a horrific odor and did not have running water or an operational bathroom.
According to the sheriff, Lutz reportedly told investigators she was “scared to death” of the state of Alabama. She feared authorities would take her two children. “That’s precisely what we did,” Moon said.
“It’s sickening to even think about really anybody living in these types of conditions, but when you start thinking about children who can’t do anything outside of what their parents provide, they had no choice, and probably if you think about it if it hadn’t had been for this, would have never had any hope of escaping,” Moon shared, per WBRC.
Lutz and Corrie each face numerous charges, including reckless assault, chemical endangerment to a child, unlawful possession of marijuana, cruelty to animals, and failure to bury/burn livestock.
“To have the opportunity to go in and pull these children out of this extremely unsafe, unfit environment, and prayerfully and hopefully placed in a home that will love them and put them in a place of protection, and provision, that means the world to every single person that works in this department,” Moon added, according to WBRC.
The 4-year-old boy had surgery to address his gunshot wounds and is recovering at the hospital, WSFA reported.
