4 years after her mother's death, a Macon family is waiting for justice — and a trial date
Ebonie Toye is waiting for a trial date for former Bibb County School Deputy Superintendent Edward Judie and another woman accused in her mother's death.
'Didn't have any vices' A murdered mother; an accused husband
Ebonie Toye says she's had to keep herself busy since the death of her mother, Joyce Judie.
"She was just beautiful inside and out," Toye said. "She was very girly and stringent at the same time."
Judie spent 20 years in the military and 12 years teaching and part of those were in the Bibb County Schools. She also taught in the state of Washington.
In November 2019, Judie was found dead inside her home. The people accused of killing her are Edward Judie and Aliyah Walker.
Edward and Walker are accused of Felony Murder and violation of Georgia's Controlled Substances Act.
Edward Judie is a former Bibb County deputy superintendent and Walker is the housekeeper who faces the same charges.
The indictment alleges Edward poisoned his wife after an autopsy showed six times the lethal amount of cocaine in her system. Toye says her mother never did drugs and rarely took a drink.
"She didn't have any vices," Toye says.
'Can we start trial?' Four years without a court date
13WMAZ has been covering the case since the beginning, trying to get answers for why there hasn't been a trial. Toye says she's called District Attorney Anita Howard's office several times a month since July 2020.
Toye was told there was no trial date, the case hasn't made the court docket and they're still backlogged from COVID.
"Aren't those rules raised already? Haven't we already started moving forward? Why have other people been charged, tried and convicted since then of worse crimes since that one? And he murdered my mother but he's free," Toye said.
Edward is out of jail on a $200,000 bond and Toye has no idea where he is.
Toye says Howard's been doing everything else except moving this case forward.
Pointing to Howard's frequent public appearances, staff events and conferences, Toye is worried the longer Judie and Walker are out, the more excuses the DA can make for why Judie and Walker can't go to trial.
"Over time, people forget, things get lost. Things happen," Toye said.
13WMAZ reached out to Howard's office and Edward's case. An email was sent to us from Chief Assistance DA Cinday Adams.
Their office declined to comment but sent us a bullet-point timeline of where the case stands. The most recent development was Edward Judie's lawyers asking for a trial delay.
They also sent a statement saying: "Our office takes this matter very seriously. We know the death of Ms. Judie has been tragic for her family. We will continue to pursue justice in this case with the seriousness and commitment it deserves."
Toye says Howard's office never offered her or her family support to process her mother's death.
"It's a pretend support group called Victims Advocacy and it's definitely pretend because they have on their website that they've spent such and such amount on money on helping people that are victims — I haven't even been offered a therapist or therapy," Toye said.
We asked Toye what she would say if she was standing in front of Howard. She said:
"Can you please give me a court date? Can we start trial?" Toye said.
The last known information filed on Edward Judie was in March of last year. Filings for Aliyah Walker were for discovery materials like witness statements, arrest warrants and criminal history. That was filed in April of this year.
MORE THAN A NUMBER
RELATED: More Than A Number: Family Form
More Than A Number is a Poynter-Stand Together award-winning project by Justin Baxley designed to help families of loved ones impacted by tragedy and trauma interact with journalists in a less intrusive way. Families are able to fill out a form about their family and also receive an in-depth guide on the next steps.
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