Russell in Shelby County Jail

Published 12:00 am Thursday, June 19, 2008

BY JUSTIN AVERETTE / News Editor

An Inverness man accused of killing an 11-year-old girl Monday night is in the Shelby County Jail.

Ryan Gerald Russell, 35, was released from Shelby Baptist Medical Center Thursday afternoon and transported to the county jail. He is being held on capital murder charges without bond.

He is accused of killing Katherine Helen Gillespie, a fifth-grader at Oak Mountain Intermediate School.

The girl lived with Russell, a distant relative, at 5048 Kerry Downs Road. He was her legal guardian, according to the sheriff’s office.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call Monday night about an unresponsive person at the home.

When they got there, they found the girl dead and later found Russell unconscious, but alive, in a locked bathroom.

The sheriff’s office won’t say how Gillespie died or what medical treatment Russell received