Police said Shawn Clark was found inside a vehicle Monday, days after his latest arrest and before scheduled court hearings.
MOBILE, Ala. — Shawn Broxton Clark, a 59-year-old neurosurgeon facing more than a dozen child pornography charges in Mobile and Baldwin counties, was found dead inside a vehicle Monday afternoon, Mobile police said.
Police responded Nov. 2 to 6901 Airport Boulevard, where Clark was found inside the vehicle. His attorney, Christine Hernandez, told FOX10 News that she found him and called for help. Police said the death did not appear to involve a criminal act, but an autopsy was expected to determine the cause. A law enforcement source told the station that investigators believed the death was a suicide, although authorities had not announced an official cause or manner of death.
Clark died three days after he was arrested following a Mobile County grand jury indictment on five counts of possession of child pornography and five counts of production of child pornography. He was released on a signature bond, which allowed him to leave custody based on a promise to appear in court. He also faced four possession counts in Baldwin County stemming from the same broader investigation.
The case began publicly in early September, when investigators arrested Clark after searches of his home near Fairhope and his medical office in Mobile. The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation began after a cyber tip referred in March by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Investigators said the tip led them to internet addresses associated with Clark’s home and office.
Authorities alleged that material recovered during the investigation included images involving real children as well as images created with artificial intelligence. Prosecutors said the five Mobile County production charges involved AI-generated material. Clark pleaded not guilty to the charges during an earlier court appearance. The allegations had not been decided at trial before his death.
Clark’s time in custody had already included a serious medical emergency. Baldwin County Sheriff Anthony Lowery said Clark was hospitalized in September after an apparent suicide attempt while being held at the Baldwin County Corrections Center. Clark later returned to custody. Jail records showed he was released from the Baldwin County jail on Oct. 10 before his arrest in Mobile on the grand jury indictment Oct. 30.
His criminal cases also involved substantial bond proceedings. A Mobile County judge initially set his bail at $450,000 on the Mobile charges. In Baldwin County, a judge set a combined $400,000 bond on four possession charges and imposed restrictions that included surrendering his passport, limits on travel, GPS monitoring and no contact with minors if he were released.
Clark had court dates approaching when he died. A preliminary hearing in Mobile County had been moved to Nov. 5, while a Baldwin County preliminary hearing had been rescheduled for Nov. 10. Those hearings were intended to address charges that remained unresolved at the time of his death.
The Alabama Medical Licensure Commission had also suspended Clark’s medical license in September while the criminal cases were pending. The administrative action was separate from the criminal proceedings and did not constitute a finding of guilt on the charges.
Police had not released a final cause or manner of death as of Tuesday. The autopsy was expected to provide additional information about what happened inside the vehicle, while the criminal allegations against Clark remained unadjudicated because he died before the scheduled court proceedings could occur.
Author note: Last updated Nov. 3, 2026.