In the late hours of August 8, 2019, or the early morning of August 9, 2019, a tragic series of events unfolded in Hollywood, South Carolina, culminating in the death of 21-year-old Ruhjanae Gibbs. Gibbs was discovered with a gunshot wound on the side of Church Flats Road. Her vehicle, a green Dodge Ram, was found parked nearby. The Charleston County Sheriff's Office launched a homicide investigation into her death.
Investigators determined that Javon Lamar Murray had lured Gibbs to his
house on the night of her murder by impersonating a mutual friend in Facebook messages. Phone records revealed that Murray had expressed his intention to commit an armed robbery that evening. The last time Gibbs was seen alive was at 10:55 p.m. in surveillance footage from Meggett Town Hall, where she was in her father's truck with Murray.
Sometime after this sighting, while Gibbs was driving, Murray shot her, causing the vehicle to go into a ditch. He proceeded to shoot her a total of six times, with one shot to the head. After the shooting, Murray removed Gibbs's shirt, dragged her body across the street, and left her in the marsh. He then abandoned the truck and fled to his residence, located three miles from the crime scene. A search of the truck uncovered Murray's cell phone, ID, social security card, and debit cards.
During the investigation, Murray provided law enforcement with multiple inconsistent and false statements, including denying that he knew Gibbs. However, forensic testing of vaginal swabs from Gibbs's body confirmed the presence of Murray's DNA. Faced with a scheduled trial, Javon Lamar Murray pleaded guilty to the murder of Ruhjanae Gibbs. He was sentenced to 55 years in prison. At the sentencing, excerpts from Gibbs's journal were read, in which she had written, 'All I want in life is stability, wealth, happiness, and self-love.'
