Friendly card game in Carroll County turns deadly, investigators say

Sherrod Montgomery (Carroll County Sheriff's Office)

Carroll County investigators are trying to determine how a friendly card game turned into a murder investigation.

Sherrod Montgomery, 41, of Carrollton, has been charged with murder and malice murder following the May 20 card game.

Bowdon police responded to the 100 block of Kent Avenue on an aggravated assault charged. Police said officers found 63-year-old Ricky Cox unconscious on a couch. He was rushed to Tanner Medical Center where he later died. 

Investigators with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office were brought in to assist the police department.

Those investigators said they are still trying to determine what set off Montgomery during the card game and led to the attack on Cox. Witnessed told investigators they could hear the argument and then saw Montgomery punching and kicking Cox before flipping a table and resuming his attack.

Those witnesses told investigators they tried to separate the men, but Montgomery kept pursuing Cox. Eventually, they were able to drag him away from Cox, who laid motionless on the floor, investigators said.

Montgomery fled the scene while those inside the home moved Cox to the couch and called 911.

The medical examiner’s report revealed Cox received a blunt force trauma to the head and torso causing severe lacerations to his lungs and heart, investigators said.

Montgomery, when interviewed by deputies, remains silent on what led to the fight and wouldn’t elaborate on the events of the evening of May 20, investigators said. 

Those who knew Cox described him as a "non-confrontational person" and "extremely easy going," investigators said.

Montgomery was booked into the Carroll County jail where he remains without bond.

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