Sam McCollum Jr., 81, passed away on Dec. 22, with funeral services held on Dec. 27 at African Baptist Church in Live Oak, and his historical homestead where his late parents Ruby and Sam McCollum once lived will be turned over to family.

“I intend to maintain the property and preserve it if I can, clean it up, and go from there,” said Marlon Ivey, the son of McCollum Jr.

The two-story estate once belonged to Sam McCollum Sr., a wealthy numbers racketeer, and his wife, Ruby, who was infamously accused of shooting and killing a white physician, Dr. C. Leroy Adams, in 1952 Live Oak. The murder trial shook the American South in a time of struggling civil rights as Ruby, a black woman, stood before an all-white jury and judge. She was convicted of first degree murder, but it was later overturned. Instead, she was declared mentally incompetent and sentenced to 20 years at a mental hospital. She died in 1992 at 82 years old. Her husband, Sam, died the day after the shooting in 1952 of a heart attack.

The two-story home off Woods Avenue in Live Oak has been deteriorating for years. Part of the roof has caved in. It can barely be seen through the thick bamboo that grows on all sides of the property. An older model pickup truck that has rusted over is still parked in the yard.