Spalding County investigators believe a woman stabbed another woman to death and then set a mobile home on fire to hide the crime.
The home on Dutchman Road in the Griffin area was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived Sunday, the Spalding sheriff’s office said. A witness told the first responders there was a body inside the trailer but the structure had partially collapsed, making a search impossible.
“While speaking with the witness, he stated that he was present in the trailer when Christy Garner stabbed Patricia Gresham in the neck and killed her,” Sheriff Darrell Dix said in a social media post. “Garner then attacked him, but he was able to fend her off and get away. Garner then set the trailer on fire to cover up the murder.”
Credit: Spalding County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Spalding County Sheriff's Office
Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze and enter the home, where they found Gresham’s body, Dix said. She was 55.
“Firefighters beat back the heat and flames long enough to allow for Mrs. Gresham’s body to be recovered and for evidence collection purposes and were able to make the scene safe enough for us to do our jobs in bringing justice to Mrs. Gresham’s family,” Dix said.
Garner, 40, was arrested and charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, concealing the death of another, and tampering with evidence. She was being held without bond late Tuesday at the Spalding jail.
No details were released on the relationship between Garner and Gresham. Address records showed Gresham had lived in the home for more than 20 years.
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