In the winter of 2015, the life of 21-year-old Min Seok Cho, a student at the University of Georgia, was tragically cut short in Athens, Georgia. On the evening of January 13th, Cho was involved in a drug deal that turned fatal. He, along with another student, Lucas Amsler Raposo, had arranged to meet with two men, Cormaine Goss and Andre Ruff, for a marijuana transaction near Baxter Drive. During the encounter, a handgun was produced, and a demand was made for the marijuana.
In the ensuing moments, Min Seok Cho was shot in the head. He was privately transported to Athens Regional Medical Center but succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into the death of the male student quickly led to the identification and arrest of three suspects. Within a day of the shooting, Cormaine Goss, then 21, and Andre Ruff, 18, were taken into custody. A third individual, 20-year-old Lucas Amsler Raposo, who had accompanied Cho to the drug deal, was also arrested the following week. The initial charges for Goss and Ruff included felony murder and aggravated assault, while Raposo faced charges of felony murder, evidence tampering, and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
The legal proceedings that followed brought different outcomes for the three men involved. Cormaine Goss, who was identified as the shooter, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for his role in the murder of Min Seok Cho. The murder charges against Lucas Amsler Raposo were eventually dropped; he is serving a 10-year sentence on drug-related charges.
The case against Andre Ruff proceeded to trial in March of 2018. He faced the same serious charges as Goss, including malice murder, armed robbery, and aggravated assault, as he was considered a party to the crime even though Goss was the one who pulled the trigger. Despite extensive searches of online sources, the final verdict and sentencing details for Andre Ruff's trial could not be located.
