Children Found Mom Dead Inside Woodstock Home: Police

WOODSTOCK, GA -- The Woodstock woman who was found dead in her apartment Friday afternoon was discovered by her two children.

That's according to the Woodstock Police Department, which is investigating the death of 41-year-old Christy Waller as a homicide, said agency spokesperson Brittany Duncan.

Waller's boyfriend, Michael Keith Russell, has been charged with killing Waller. He was booked into the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center Friday evening on malice murder, felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault and false imprisonment charges.

Duncan said the children, a pre-teen and a teenager, are now in the care of family members.

Woodstock officers were dispatched around 4 p.m. Friday, March 3 of a woman reported to be deceased inside the residence at Alta Ridgewalk Apartments, which are located off Ridgewalk Parkway east of Interstate 575.

Duncan said the case "appears to be a case of domestic violence," as Russell and Waller were in a relationship.

Duncan added Cherokee County dispatchers received four calls from the Woodstock apartment within the last few months: one concerning a repossession; asking for information from an officer; a call to provide information to an officer; and Friday's incident to report the grim discovery.

One of Waller's children, Payton, has started a GoFundMe page to raise funds to help cover expenses related to her mother's funeral and burial.

"My mom is so loved by many and will be missed, and I want a more than perfect funeral for my guardian angel," the child wrote.

The campaign, has generated a little more than $6,800 and hopes to raise $10,000 to help with expenses.

"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," Payton adds.

Cherokee Sheriff's Office spokesperson Lt. Jay Baker said Russell, who waived his bond hearing on Monday, remains held at the jail.

Image via GoFundMe