Whitfield County, GA – On August 21, 2024, the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office was requested to conduct a welfare check on a female that was lying under a bridge, located on Willowdale Road at the Crow Valley Road intersection. As a result of the welfare check, the deputy located a deceased female next to the railroad tracks.
During the course of the investigation, the female was identified as Luz Ramirez, homeless, 50 years of age. Based on the evidence gathered at the scene, it appears that Ramirez was struck several times in the head and face area with a large rock.
Investigators were able to identify a suspect with evidence left behind at and near the crime scene. The suspect, Fred Edward Sherman Jr., 54, 1116 Willowdale Road Dalton, was interviewed and admitted to assaulting Ramirez with a rock, which caused her death.
Fred Sherman was taken into custody and charged with Murder, additional charges are pending.
The GBI is assisting the Sheriff’s Office in the ongoing investigation.
According to online reports, In 2022 The City of Cortland Police arrested a Fred Sherman after an incident that occurred back in 2017. Sherman was charged him with Sexual Abuse in the 1st degree, a felony. Sherman is accused of subjecting a female, who was less than 13 years of age, to sexual contact by touching her breasts and encouraging her to expose her breasts. Sherman was processed and then released on his own recognizance.
