Cold Case: Arrest made nearly 30 years after woman’s stabbing death in Georgia

Above video: Friday's press conference

Nearly 30 years after Christy Dawn Myers was found stabbed to death beside her vehicle in Georgia, authorities have arrested a man in connection with her killing.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Friday that James Lawrence III, 47, is charged with malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault. He was taken into custody Thursday and booked into the Coffee County Jail.

The Irwin County Sheriff’s Office helped locate and arrest Lawrence. Authorities said he did not make a statement when officers took him into custody.

Lawrence is accused but has not been convicted. The investigation remains active.

Myers was 20 when she left home to visit a local store on Sept. 14, 1998. Witnesses saw her socializing there before she drove away alone, investigators said.

She was found dead the next day outside her vehicle along the Broxton-Fitzgerald Highway. She had been stabbed multiple times.

At Friday’s news conference, GBI Special Agent in Charge Jessica Hamilton said Myers was more than a name in an investigative file.

“She was a loving young mother, a daughter, a sister and a member of this community,” Hamilton said. “They remember her as a happy and bubbly woman who loved to sing.”

Myers’ daughter, Chelsea Wolfe, said her mother enjoyed long walks, doing her hair and makeup and listening to singer Nina Simone.

“I don’t want my mom to be remembered as only a victim,” Wolfe said. “She was so much more than that.”

Wolfe said she learned about her mother largely through stories shared by others because she was deprived of the opportunity to know her.

“My mom was resilient, and she was a fighter,” Wolfe said. “She deserved to live her life and watch her family grow.”

The Coffee County Sheriff’s Office asked the GBI’s regional office in Douglas to assist with the investigation on Sept. 15, 1998.

Over the following decades, agents and local investigators conducted interviews, followed leads, collected evidence, administered polygraph examinations and repeatedly submitted evidence for testing as forensic technology improved.

The GBI Cold Case Unit later conducted another extensive review with regional agents and local investigators. Authorities said the resulting strategy allowed investigators to connect Lawrence to the crime scene through what Hamilton described as conclusive latent fingerprint and DNA evidence.

Asked Friday what ultimately led to the arrest, Hamilton confirmed that DNA played a role.

The GBI established its statewide Cold Case Unit in 2023, giving investigators additional resources and access to specialized methods for reviewing unresolved cases.

Officials said persistence and cooperation among investigators, intelligence analysts, forensic scientists, prosecutors and multiple law enforcement agencies were crucial to moving the case forward.

Coffee County Sheriff Fred Cole said Myers’ death had weighed on her family and the community for almost three decades.

“I know this day does not bring her back,” Cole told the family. “But I hope today shows you that Christy was never forgotten.”

Cole said the Sheriff’s Office and GBI would continue supporting the family as the case moves through the court system. He also promised families waiting for answers in other unsolved cases that investigators would keep working.

Acting Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney Ian Sansot said ethical rules limited what he could discuss because the prosecution is pending. He said the arrest should reassure the community that “no case is truly closed when there is still justice to be done.”

Once investigators complete their work, the case file will be turned over to Sansot’s office for prosecution.

Wolfe thanked the investigators who worked on the case over the years and encouraged other families awaiting answers not to lose hope.

“Although today brings us a little bit of closure, it’s only the beginning of a new chapter,” she said. “It is a new day, a new dawn, and may justice prevail.”

Anyone with information may call the GBI’s Douglas office at 912-389-4103 or the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office at 912-384-4227. Anonymous tips may be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), through the GBI’s online tip portal or with the See Something, Send Something mobile app.