Son of Alabama Coal Magnate Charged With Domestic Violence

 

 

July 24, 2026 - A member of one of Alabama’s most prominent families is facing criminal charges in two Jefferson County cities.

Christopher Lee Drummond, 40, is charged with domestic violence in Mountain Brook and in Birmingham. Charging documents allege he strangled his wife.

 

Christopher Lee Drummond

In Birmingham, Christopher Drummond is charged with felony domestic violence strangulation/suffocation in connection with a Sept. 1, 2025, incident and misdemeanor domestic violence from a Sept. 10, 2025, incident, according to charging documents.

In Mountain Brook, he is charged with domestic violence strangulation/suffocation that, according to charging documents, happened at their Shook Hill home on Feb. 25, 2026.

Drummond was booked into the Jefferson County Jail at 11:36 a.m. Monday, July 20, and released at 2:23 p.m. the same day after posting $66,000 bond.

His criminal attorney, Brett Bloomston, declined to comment at this time.

It’s a case that has garnered national attention for weeks from true crime bloggers on social media where home surveillance videos have been shared via wife Alexis Drummond, 37.

Three generations of the Drummond family headed the coal company that bears their name. H.E. Drummond founded the company in Sipsey in 1935. Don Drummond became president in 1956 upon H.E.’s death, and Garry Neil Drummond was named CEO in 1973. He served as the company went global, until his death in July 2016.

Christopher Drummond is the youngest son of Garry Neil Drummond.

Drummond Company officials did not respond to requests for comment on Drummond’s arrest.

Drummond and his wife, Alexis Drummond, are going through a divorce. He is the subject of a protection from abuse order obtained by his wife last month.

 

Alexis Drummond

Attorney Laura Susan Burns, who represents Alexis Drummond in the divorce and protection from abuse proceedings, has also filed a civil lawsuit against Christopher Drummond.

According to court filings in the lawsuit brought by his wife, his arrest this week in Alabama follows his release from a European jail where he served 45 days after being convicted on similar charges.

Court records do not yet list an attorney for Drummond on the civil case.

Alexis Drummond is also suing her husband’s divorce attorney. Attorney Jacqueline Morrette is representing Alexis Drummond in a separate civil suit against her husband’s divorce attorney, Wendy Brooks Crew of Crew Law Group.

The lawsuit accused Crew and attorney Christina Vineyard of trespassing and invasion of privacy.

Alexis Drummond alleges in the lawsuit that the lawyers “dognapped” her 4-year-old Maltese, Mila, without permission. The suit says the dog was returned.

Crew did not comment on the civil suit, and Vineyard did not respond to a request for comment.

Crew is representing the firm in the civil lawsuit, court records show.

Asked for comment on that suit, Morrette, the attorney for Alexis Drummond, said, “I believe that there has been a plethora of coverage surrounding this subject such that no further commentary is necessary at this juncture.”

According to Alexis Drummond’s suit against her husband, the couple married in March 2023 and were in a relationship for three years prior to marriage. The couple has two children.

The lawsuit against Crew and Vineyard says that the couple traveled to Monaco together on June 1 and, within days, Christopher Drummond was arrested and convicted of intentional violence against a spouse.

Court records in French and their English translation, shared widely on social media and provided by Alexis Drummond via her social media, say the incident happened at the iconic Hotel de Paris in the center of Monte Carlo in Monaco.

Drummond was charged with “violently” tearing a necklace from his wife’s neck, breaking her cell phone and spraining her wrist, those records state.

According to the filings by Alexis Drummond’s lawyers, the European court found Christopher Drummond guilty and on June 5 he was sentenced to 45 days in Remand Prison of Monaco.

Christopher Drummond is set to have a court appearance on the Mountain Brook and Birmingham criminal charges in September.