COFFEE COUNTY, Ga. — Nearly 28 years after a 20-year-old woman was found stabbed to death along a Georgia highway, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has arrested a man in connection with her killing.
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James Lawrence III, 47, of Irwin County, has been charged with felony murder, malice murder and aggravated assault in the death of Christy Dawn Myers.
Myers was found on Sept. 15, 1998, near her vehicle along the Broxton-Fitzgerald Highway in Coffee County. Investigators said she had suffered multiple stab wounds.
The Coffee County Sheriff’s Office requested the GBI’s assistance in the investigation shortly after Myers’ death.
According to the GBI, continued forensic testing eventually identified Lawrence as a suspect.
Lawrence was arrested Oct. 1 and booked into the Coffee County Jail. The Irwin County Sheriff’s Office assisted in locating and arresting him.
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The GBI said investigators with its Regional Investigative Office in Douglas and the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office continued working on the case for nearly three decades.
“This arrest represents the culmination of those continued efforts,” the GBI said.
The investigation remains active and ongoing.
Once investigators complete the case, the file will be turned over to the Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
Anyone with information about Myers’ death is asked to contact the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Douglas at 912-389-4103 or the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office at 912-384-4227. Anonymous tips can also be submitted to the GBI.
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