Georgia Woman Allegedly Kills Paraplegic Ex-Boyfriend By Stranding Him in the Woods
A Georgia woman allegedly killed her paraplegic ex-boyfriend last month by dropping him off in the woods and leaving him to die in the freezing cold, PEOPLE confirms.
Ruby Kate Coursey, 27, was charged Monday with felony murder and neglect of a disabled adult, a felony, in connection with the death of 33-year-old Troymaine Johnson, Upson County, Georgia, Sheriff Dan Kilgore tells PEOPLE.
Johnson was last seen alive on March 14 and was found dead by authorities after midnight on March 17, Kilgore says. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation later determined he died of hypothermia.
Kilgore says that Coursey, Johnson’s ex-girlfriend, allegedly dropped him off on a dirt road in the area of a hunting camp in Upson County, in Middle Georgia.
To access the road, she allegedly crashed her vehicle through a gate, he says.
Kilgore says Johnson didn’t have the use of his legs and had only partial use of one arm: “He was totally immobile. ... There was absolutely no way he’d be able to get out of there or call for help.”
As Johnson was stranded overnight, the temperatures dipped into the 20s, Kilgore says.
“That would have been a very painful way to meet your demise,” he says.
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Coursey remains in the Upson County Jail, according to Kilgore.
She has not yet been arraigned, to enter a plea to her charges, and it was not immediately clear whether she has an attorney.
A motive remains unclear, Kilgore says.
Coursey’s brother and sister-in-law called 911 after she “showed up to her brother’s home and [said] she had left [Johnson] in the woods, that she’d done a bad thing,” authorities allege.
During the investigation, Coursey allegedly said she “she put Johnson out of her car and left him in the woods,” according to the Upson County Sheriff’s Office.
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Johnson’s aunt, Sharon Rumph, described him to WMAZ as beloved in his hometown of Fort Valley, Georgia.
“It’s sad that he left here at such an early age, but I believe that God is too wise to make a mistake,” Rumph told the station. (His family could not immediately be reached by PEOPLE)
Johnson’s cousin Sade Owens told WMAZ he had a passion for rapping.
“Just rapped whenever he got a chance,” she said. “He could just see somebody and start rapping about them right off the top.”
Kilgore tells PEOPLE that “from a human perspective, it’s tragic and painful to see someone suffer like that.
“I can’t imagine how he must have felt.”
