Rumph pleads guilty but mentally ill to 2016 malice murder, weapons charges
The man who shot to death a coworker at an Evans nursery pleaded guilty but mentally ill Monday, March 14.
Christopher L. Rumph, 36, pleaded guilty in Richmond County Superior Court to malice murder and weapon violations in the Nov. 16, 2016, killing of 43-year-old Jerry Wayne Whitten.
There is no excuse for what happen just after the men clocked out for the night at their jobs at Springwood Nurseries, Rumph said Monday.
“Jerry was a great man,” who tried to help Rumph. But the voices he had been hearing for more than a decade were growing stronger. His schizophrenia had never been treated.
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Rumph and Whitten worked the night shift. A neighbor reported hearing gunshots just before 4 a.m. Richmond County Sheriff’s investigators searched Rumph’s home and found a gun. Ballistics showed it was the murder weapon, said Assistant District Attorney Kevin Majeska. Rumph confessed but could give no reason for what he did.
The slaying of her husband devastated her family, Rachel Lynn Whitten told the judge. Their 12-year-old has had to grow up without a father and will graduate this year without him. Whitten’s daughter, Taylor Iacobucci, told the judge that her son, who was 2 when his grandfather died, still cries for his best friend.
Rumph grew up in Florida, graduated from high school and started taking college classes, defense attorney Keith Johnson said. In his early 20s he began hearing voices. His mother took his to a minister instead of a doctor.
Johnson said he hopes he plea of guilty but mentally ill will get Rumph mental health treatment in prison.
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Chief Judge James G. Blanchard Jr. accepted the negotiated plea agreement for life in prison with the possibility of parole. If paroled, Rumph will have another 10 years on probation.
Convicted sex offender granted $20,000 bond for missing deadline to register with Columbia County Sheriff’s Office
A convicted sex offender who missed the deadline for registering with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office as a sex offender was granted a $20,000 bond Monday, March 14, with the added provision he is not to have contact with children.
Scott J. Robinson, 40, was charged with failure to register last month, said Assistant District Attorney Ashley Muller.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.
