Two years ago tomorrow, police in Shelby County, Alabama received a 911 call of an “unresponsive person”. When they arrived they found 11-year-old Katherine Helen Gillespie shot in the head and stuffed in a garbage can. Ryan Russell was found lying unconscious in the bathroom and taken to the hospital to be treated.
Just days later 37-year-old Ryan Gerald Russell was arrested for the murder and is still being held without bond in the Shelby County Jail awaiting his trial.
Russell was apparently in the process of adopting Gillespie at the time of her death. The two were adopted cousins and Russell was her legal guardian.
Police haven’t revealed what they consider the motive or reason behind the murder, if there even is one, but from some accounts I’ve come across Ryan Russell was an extremely selfish person who also had drug and alcohol issues. According to a report by NBC 13 back in October 2008 the autopsy report also showed that Katherine had been sexually abused.
