Man Gets Life Without Parole For Woodstock Woman's Murder

WOODSTOCK, GA — The boyfriend of a Woodstock resident found dead last year by her children inside her apartment has been convicted of killing the mother of two children.

A Cherokee County trial jury found Michael Keith Russell of one count each of felony murder and malice murder, three counts of aggravated assault, and one count each of false imprisonment and possession of methamphetamine in connection to the death of Christy Waller, 41. Following the jury's decision handed down on Oct. 26, Russell was sentenced to life without parole, court records show.

Waller's death came to light after Woodstock police were dispatched around 4 p.m. March 3, 2017, to a call at a unit at Alta Ridgewalk Apartments. Woodstock police previously told Patch that Waller's children found their mother deceased inside the apartment.

Investigators soon learned that Waller and Russell were in a relationship but according to the indictment, they were no longer living together. Russell was arrested and booked in to the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center. He was indicted in May 2017 by a grand jury on the aforementioned charges.

According to that indictment, Russell allegedly used his hands and an unknown object to strangle Waller. He's also accused of striking Waller with a part from a laptop computer in the face, head, extremities and other areas of her body.

One of Waller's children created a GoFundMe page to raise funds to help cover expenses related to her mother's funeral and burial. That campaign raised $10,795.

"Me and my brother are left without our mom that we loved so much, and I wouldn't want to wish this pain upon anybody," one of the children previously said on the campaign page, which is no longer active.

Photo: Michael Keith Russell. Credit: Cherokee Sheriff's Office