In 1952, Ruby McCollum walked into the office of prominent white physician and politician Doctor C. Leroy Adams in Live Oak, Florida, and fatally shot him. Ruby never denied the shooting. What she attempted to explain was everything behind it—an alleged sexual assault, a child she said Adams fathered, another pregnancy, financial dealings and the racial power that shaped their relationship. But in a segregated Florida courtroom, Ruby was repeatedly prevented from telling that story in full. In this episode of Murder in the Black, we examine Ruby’s life before the shooting, the relationship between the McCollum and Adams households, the trial that sentenced her to death and the Florida Supreme Court decision that overturned her conviction. We also discuss why the new trial ordered by the court never happened and how Ruby instead spent nearly twenty years confined to a state hospital. The episode also considers the work of Zora Neale Hurston and journalist William Bradford Huie, the restrictions placed on their reporting and the importance of Black people being able to preserve and represent their own stories. Ruby had education, wealth and status, but none of those things separated her from a system capable of exercising its power over her. Her case remains a warning about what can happen when Black voices are discussed, interpreted and judged without being fully heard. TRUE CRIME IN CURRENT NEWSUpdated August 20, 2026 Karmelo Anthony: Karmelo Anthony, now 19, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 35 years for fatally stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf during a 2025 high-school track meet. Anthony’s attorneys are seeking a new trial, arguing that courtroom-access restrictions, an off-the-record evidentiary agreement and the jury instructions affected his ability to receive a fair trial and fully present his self-defense claim. On August 19, Judge Sid Harle removed trial judge John Roach Jr. from the post-trial proceedings. Although Harle did not find that Roach had violated judicial rules, he determined that Roach’s public comments after the verdict could cause a reasonable observer to question his impartiality. Retired Judge Michael Chitty is now considering Anthony’s motion for a new trial. During the August 20 hearing, the defense challenged the courtroom restrictions and whether the findings required under Waller v. Georgia were properly made. Prosecutors defended the proceedings and disclosed that both sides had agreed to keep certain information about Anthony and Metcalf from the jury. A ruling must be issued by August 24 or the motion will be denied automatically. Tupac Shakur Murder Trial: The trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis is underway in Las Vegas. Davis is accused of helping organize the retaliatory 1996 shooting that killed Tupac Shakur. Prosecutors do not allege that Davis pulled the trigger. They argue that he obtained the gun, provided it to the men inside the Cadillac and helped arrange the shooting after Tupac’s entourage attacked Davis’s nephew, Orlando Anderson, at the MGM Grand. The prosecution is relying heavily on Davis’s interviews and memoir, in which he placed himself inside the Cadillac and described his involvement. The defense argues that Davis exaggerated or invented those accounts to gain attention and sell books. His attorney is asking jurors not to believe his client’s own words while emphasizing the absence of physical evidence connecting Davis to the weapon. The trial is expected to last several weeks. CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses homicide, alleged sexual violence, reproductive coercion, racism, capital punishment and psychiatric confinement.
