A Leesburg man has been sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder of a beloved 92-year-old retired school teacher in 2017.
Joshua McClellan was 19 when he and a co-defendant, 22-year-old Krystopher Laws broke into the home of Rubye James who had taught school for 50 years and was well known in Leesburg. Evidence proved that the murder took place around 3 a.m. on Feb. 8, 2017 when Laws and McClellan went to the James’ house to get money for drugs.
James opened the fortified door to allow McClellan into the house because she knew the youth who had done yard work for her. She also had fed the young man on occasion. James was attacked by the two men. She was stabbed more than a dozen times, suffered several broken ribs and a fracture to her neck and to her spine according to the medical examiner. The two men then loaded her body into the trunk of her car and drove her car to the Snow Place apartments in Leesburg where McClellan lived. A resident of the complex told the police where to find the car. A K-9 team was able to follow the victim’s scent to an area where they found James in a shallow grave covered in part by yard waste near where McClellan lived. The men spent the $70 they stole from the house on drugs.
Laws entered a plea agreement that he would be sentenced to prison for life without parole to avoid a death sentence. Earlier this year, McClellan went to trial and was convicted by a jury which recommended that he be put to death.
The judge wrote a detailed 32-page sentencing order in which she outlined her findings with regard to both aggravating and mitigating factors. She wrote that “the jury found five aggravating factors were proven beyond a reasonable doubt, however the Court’s independent analysis found two to be aggravating factors. Given the weight of those aggravating factors, and the mitigating evidence presented during the Penalty Phase and Spencer hearing and the subsequent weight given to same, the Court finds that the aggravating factors do not outweigh the mitigating circumstances.”
She went on to sentence McClellan to life without the possibility of parole.
Many people paid tribute to the retired school teacher when she was laid to rest.
“Ms. Rubye got a proper burial today. She left her mark in my life. To know Ms. Rubye was to know the love of God. There are many who can say they have helped Ms. Rubye, but I can honestly say Ms. Rubye helped me more than I helped her. She inspired and encouraged me to be better, to do better and to become better in every way of my life. Today, I remember how she lived and not how she died,” said Sharon Thomas.
