Jasper County Sheriff Chuck Havard and District Attorney Anne Pickle release statement on Christi Russo
- Sandi Saulsbury
- Apr 1
- 3 min read
This morning, after pleading guilty to tampering with a human corpse, and, after being sentenced to 20 years in prison, Mr. Tatom took the witness stand in a legal process called “allocution”. While on the stand, Mr. Tatom, 30, of Buna, testified that he shot and killed Christi Russo, 31, of Buna at his residence on County Road # 777 in Jasper County on October 21st, 2021. Mr. Tatom admitted in court and under oath that after he killed Christi, he then burnt her body on his property and then discarded her remains in the Neches River. This has been an on-going investigation for over three years and some of the top professionals in law enforcement from various agencies, including the FBI and Texas Rangers, have been directly involved in this case.
Shortly after taking office on January 1st, 2025, I and District Attorney Anne Pickle immediately had Mr. Tatom bench warranted (extradited) back to Jasper County and placed him in our Jail on January 27th, 2025, so that the investigation would proceed in full force. This case was extremely important to me and our District Attorney. This case has been a priority since day # 1. Ms. Pickle and her staff have spent hundreds of hours reviewing this case from every angle. Once I familiarized myself with this case, I met with the Russo family and told them what our strategy would be moving forward to try and get this case closed, deliver justice as best as we can and give them as much closure as a family can have after losing a loved one under horrific circumstances. Unfortunately, we also discussed the lack of evidence and the high level of proof that has to be present in order to get a conviction for Murder in Texas. The lack of evidence was not due to negligence nor shoddy policework. In order for juries made up of our citizens to convict, there must be proof beyond a reasonable doubt and juries must have a unanimous verdict. That type of evidence was not present in this case.
Once a decision was made regarding the consequences of taking this case to trial, myself and Ms. Pickle again met with the Russo family and expressed our concerns with the lack of evidence and the risks of going to trial. We went into great details of why the probability of him getting convicted was extremely low. Collectively, with the families consent, a decision was then made to have conversations with Mr. Tatom and his legal counsel to do all we could to deliver some type of justice in this case. We then had several conversations with Mr. Tatom’s legal counsel and decided the best decision moving forward in this case was to do the best we could with what we had. Accordingly, Mr. Tatom pled guilty to tampering with a human corpse and received the maximum sentence of 20 years in TDCJ. Part of the agreement was for him to lead us to her remains so that we could return the remains to the family. Was it what we wanted? Absolutely not. But, we did the best we could with what we had.
Immediately after court this morning, myself, Ms. Pickle and members of our staffs converged on Mr. Tatom’s property and began searching for Christi’s remains. We located several items that could be human remains and these items will be sent to the crime lab and analyzed. We also discovered an article of clothing in the targeted search area that was identified be her family to belong to Christi. Investigators did a thorough, meticulous search of the crime scene. Additionally, members of the Port Arthur Fire Department Dive Team will be conducting dive operations in the Neches River in the morning to attempt to recover any remaining remains.
Our legal system isn’t perfect, but it’s the best on the planet. Although this conclusion is not idea and not what anybody wanted, it was way to get Mr.Tatom in prison for 20 years, get Christi’s remains recovered and let the Russo family know what happened to Christi.
I would like to thank our District Attorney Anne Pickle, former Sheriff Mitchel Newman, Lieutenant Jason McClelland and all the investigators who have worked so hard on this case and the people of Jasper County for the information they have relayed to law enforcement over the course of this investigation.
Our hearts and prayers are with Christi and her family.
Respectfully,
Chuck Havard
Jasper County Sheriff
Anne Pickle
Jasper County District Attorney
Our earlier report;
Images courtesy of Jasper County Sheriff's Office
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