Charles Cook (Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office) and Melinda Jolly (GoFundMe)
A 41-year-old man from Georgia has been arrested in Florida for allegedly killing his girlfriend, beating the 44-year-old widow and mother of four to death in her home last week. Charles Franklin Cook was taken into custody on Thursday and charged with one count of murder and one count of aggravated assault in the slaying of Melinda Jolly, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Cobb County, Georgia, police department, a family member conducted a welfare check on Jolly last week and found her dead inside her home in Marietta.
Police responded to the scene, locating the body and immediately notifying detectives with the department’s Major Crimes Unit.
Jolly’s sister provided additional details about the circumstances of her death in a GoFundMe page started to raise money for her funeral.
According to the page, Jolly and her four children moved from California to Georgia a few years ago, shortly after she gave birth to her youngest children, two twin boys. She moved to be closer to her family and “start a new life” following the death of her husband, who died shortly after she gave birth to the twins.
The family said they recently found out that Jolly was in an abusive relationship and had been calling local police to perform periodic welfare checks on her and the children. The family said that the last time police checked on Jolly was Jan. 15. Two days later, a family member went by the house to see how Jolly was doing and found her dead.
“Officers deemed her death was suspicious, they had previously been out to this residence several times for domestic violence,” Cobb County Police Officer Aaron Wilson told Atlanta Fox affiliate WAGA.
According to a report from Atlanta CBS affiliate WANF, police in a probable cause affidavit wrote that witnesses spotted Cook leaving Jolly’s home “around the supposed time of death after officers completed a welfare check” on Jolly.
Authorities reportedly determined that she died from “multiple blunt force injuries to the head and neck.”
Soon after Jolly’s body was discovered, deputies with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office received information from Cobb County authorities that Cook was wanted on active warrants for a domestic violence-related homicide and aggravated assault and might be in Crestview, Florida.
Deputies on the evening of Jan. 18 were able to locate Cook, who was in his vehicle in the parking lot of a Publix grocery store in Crestview. He was quickly apprehended and is currently being held without bond as he awaits extradition back to Georgia.
Jolly’s family referred to Cook as an “abusive monster” on the GoFundMe page.
“Melinda was a kind, compassionate young woman with her whole life ahead of her. She had a sparkle in her eye, and truly lit up a room,” her family wrote. “She had a big heart and loved her children with everything she had. She was the best mom, a beloved daughter, a caring sister, a whimsical aunt, a gracious niece, and a forever friend. She was just a beautiful person inside and out. She had the best smile and the craziest ideas. She will be missed by so many.”
Cook was previously arrested in October and charged with two counts of child cruelty after police said they found Jolly’s 4-year-old child locked inside a hot vehicle parked in front of the home, WAGA reported. Officers responding to the scene had to break into the car to get the child out, saying he was “crying and screaming” at the time. The result of those charges was not immediately clear.
Cook is being held without bond at the Okaloosa County Jail.
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