The man later convicted in the killings had answered one victim’s phone before a welfare check uncovered the scene.
ATLANTA — Concern from a daughter trying to reach her father led Atlanta police to an apartment where officers found two bodies and arrested a man who was later convicted of killing his mother and her longtime boyfriend, according to investigators and prosecutors.
The case mattered not only because of the deaths, but because the discovery came after days of unanswered calls and a tense police standoff outside the apartment. Prosecutors said Neil Russell was ultimately convicted in the killings of Henrietta Russell and Marvin Spencer, then sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus 25 years after jurors found him guilty of murder and other crimes.
The chain of events that brought police to the apartment began with silence. Maria Spencer said she had been trying for two or three days to contact her father, Marvin Spencer, without success. When she called Henrietta Russell’s phone, a man answered. Maria Spencer later said she and Neil Russell had never met, but the call left her uneasy. She went to the apartment complex and asked the property manager for help checking on the couple. That request led to a 911 call after people at the scene could not get inside. What started as a welfare check quickly turned into something far more serious when responding officers picked up the odor of decomposing bodies from outside the door, prosecutors said.
Atlanta police said officers arrived at 835 Oglethorpe Ave. SW at about 2:51 p.m. on March 7, 2025. There, they encountered a man inside who refused to cooperate and threatened to hurt himself and others, according to the department. Negotiators were called as the man barricaded himself in the residence. Police said he eventually came out and was detained. A protective sweep followed, and officers found two people dead inside. Prosecutors later identified the victims as Henrietta Russell and Spencer. In court, authorities said Henrietta Russell had been strangled, while Spencer had been stabbed. The state said Neil Russell stayed in the apartment with the victims’ bodies for an estimated two weeks after the killings.
As the case moved forward, prosecutors added details that deepened the picture but did not fully answer the central question of why the killings happened. Fulton County Chief Senior Assistant District Attorney Travis Thomas said Russell withdrew money from his mother’s account when her Social Security payment arrived on the first of the month. He also said Russell had a history of drug abuse and had recently come out of rehab. Still, Thomas acknowledged that motive remained a mystery. Defense attorneys focused on the absence of DNA or fingerprint evidence, pressing the state on what physical evidence directly placed Russell as the killer. Even so, the jury convicted him after hearing the full timeline and the testimony surrounding the discovery.
The procedural path began with charges connected to the standoff. Atlanta police first announced charges including aggravated assault, false imprisonment and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony. Three days later, on March 10, 2025, the department said investigators had secured additional warrants charging Russell with two counts of murder and two more knife-related felony counts. By March 26, 2026, WSB-TV reported, Russell had been convicted and sentenced. Prosecutors said the combined sentence of two life terms plus 25 years means he would not be eligible for parole for at least 60 years under current standards, making it likely that he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
The human loss remained central even after the courtroom outcome. Maria Spencer said March 7, 2025, was supposed to mark her father’s 76th birthday. Instead, it became the day she learned he had been killed along with Henrietta Russell, his longtime girlfriend. She described him as a father of three, grandfather of 14 and great-grandfather of six. Her remarks captured the shock that family members faced as a missed phone call turned into a homicide case. “I think my faith is one of the main things that’s getting me through it,” she said, adding that she had not fully had time to grieve.
With the verdict entered and sentencing complete, the criminal case has reached its main conclusion. The next developments, if any, are expected to come through the appeals process and other post-trial filings.
Author note: Last updated March 27, 2026.