Ruby McCollum was the defendant in a famous racially charged murder case in Live Oak, Florida. McCollum, who was African-American, was charged with killing a prominent white doctor, Dr. Leroy Adams, in his office in August 1952. McCollum claimed that over several years Adams had repeatedly abused her and forced her to submit to sex, and that her youngest daughter, Loretta, was his. She testified that when she went to Adam's office to ask that he leave her alone, an altercation ensued and she shot him four times with a revolver. McCollum was tried and convicted of the murder of Dr. Adams in December 1952 and sentenced to death. The case was widely covered by the press throughout the U.S. worldwide. On appeal her conviction was reversed by the Florida Supreme Court and a new trial was ordered. Prior to her second trial she was found mentally incompetent to stand trial and remanded to the state mental institution at Chattahoochee, Florida. McCollum was eventually released from Chattahoochee in 1974 and lived out her days at a rest home in Silver Springs, Florida. McCollum's case has been the subject of several books, film documentaries and a play. The book Ruby McCollum: Woman in the Suwannee Jail (1956), an account of the case by William Bradford Huie, became a bestseller. Ruby McCollum is buried next to her brother, Matt Jackson, towards the front of the cemetery.
Ruby McCollum was the defendant in a famous racially charged murder case in Live Oak, Florida. McCollum, who was African-American, was charged with killing a prominent white doctor, Dr. Leroy Adams, in his office in August 1952. McCollum claimed that over several years Adams had repeatedly abused her and forced her to submit to sex, and that her youngest daughter, Loretta, was his. She testified that when she went to Adam's office to ask that he leave her alone, an altercation ensued and she shot him four times with a revolver. McCollum was tried and convicted of the murder of Dr. Adams in December 1952 and sentenced to death. The case was widely covered by the press throughout the U.S. worldwide. On appeal her conviction was reversed by the Florida Supreme Court and a new trial was ordered. Prior to her second trial she was found mentally incompetent to stand trial and remanded to the state mental institution at Chattahoochee, Florida. McCollum was eventually released from Chattahoochee in 1974 and lived out her days at a rest home in Silver Springs, Florida. McCollum's case has been the subject of several books, film documentaries and a play. The book Ruby McCollum: Woman in the Suwannee Jail (1956), an account of the case by William Bradford Huie, became a bestseller. Ruby McCollum is buried next to her brother, Matt Jackson, towards the front of the cemetery.
Gravesite Details
Wife of Sam McCollum
