Monday, April 10, 2017

Woman arrested for leaving her disabled ex-boyfriend in the woods to freeze to death

By Oyekanmi Mubarak Gbolahan 4/10/2017 07:33:00 AM Leave a Comment

A Georgia woman, 27-year-old Ruby Kate Coursey , has been charged with the murder of her ex-boyfriend, 33 year old Troymaine Johnson, according to Upson County Sheriff Dan Kilgore. Coursey has been charged with felony murder and neglect of a disabled adult after allegedly pushing him out of her car and leaving him at a hunting camp to fend for himself.
The GBI Crime Lab determined Johnson’s cause of death was homicide due to hypothermia.

His body was found at the hunting camp in the woods off Triune Mill Road on March 17 – four days after he was last seen.

The sheriff’s office found him after receiving a tip from Coursey's brother and sister-in-law, who told them Coursey said she had left a man in the woods.

At the time, she was taken into custody for an outstanding probation warrant and not charged in his death pending the results of the autopsy.

Troymaine Johnson, a paraplegic who did not have use of his legs and only had partial use of one arm, was last seen alive March 14, when his ex-girlfriend Coursey allegedly picked him up to go for a ride or trip to the store, leaving his wheelchair at home, rather than take him to the store, Coursey allegedly drove to a hunting campground about 70 miles south of Atlanta, left Johnson next to a camper and drove off.

Records show temperatures at that time had plunged into the mid-20s. "Those were some of the coldest nights in recent days," Kilgore said in the release.

When the autopsy result came out, she was charged Monday with murder and neglect of a disabled adult — both felonies.

A motive for the alleged killing was unclear, officials said. Johnson, who was affectionately known as "Troy," was remembered as a talented rapper as well as a funny and kindhearted man, WMAZ-TV reported.