Cops: Mableton Man, Girlfriend Drove Truck with Dead Grandfather Inside

The Mableton woman charged Tuesday night with the murder of a 78-year-old Lilburn man admitted that she and the man's grandson "are responsible for his death" and drove the dead man's truck around metro Atlanta with his body still inside the vehicle.

That "voluntary admission" is contained in Cobb County criminal warrants for Mableton residents Casey Ryan Collins and Sarah Elizabeth Cook, who face felony murder charges in connection with the death of Edward Smith.

Collins, 30, is Smith's grandson. Cook, 23, is Collins' girlfriend.

About 8:18 p.m. Tuesday, Smith was found dead inside his white Ford truck in South Cobb, said Sgt. Dana Pierce with the Cobb County Police Department.

That was two days after he was reported missing and five days after anyone had contact with him. Investigators found that Collins and Cook had Smith's truck at 1 p.m. May 2, "about four hours after (the) reported last contact with Smith," records show.

According to Cook's admission, Smith was in his parked truck in the driveway of a residence at 365 Kemolay Rd. last Thursday morning when she and Collins "assaulted" him.

After the assault, Collins reached into Smith's pocket and took his wallet, which "contained U.S. Currency and a financial transaction card," a Cobb police officer wrote in warrants.

That's not all they took, according to warrants.

"Collins and Cook also took Smith's truck," the officer wrote. "They drove around the metro-Atlanta area, with Smith's dead body concealed inside, for several hours before abandoning the truck where it was found by the police."

Collins and Cook are being held without bond in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, Pierce said.

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