MACON, Ga. — Jury selection started on Monday, but it's happening down in Grady County on the Georgia-Florida state lines.
District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale says the selected jurors will then be brought to Putnam County, and the trial will begin as soon as possible.
For the families of sergeants Christopher Monica and Curtis Billue, the road to trial for two alleged killers has been long.
"The trial's gonna be difficult, we know that. Four years is too long," said Denise Monica, wife of Christopher Monica, back in May.
"We have faith in the judicial system, that justice will be served for the alleged parties that took his life on June 13, 2017," said Denise Billue, sister of Curtis Billue.
Now, we're just days away from the trial for Donnie Rowe, one of the two men who allegedly shot and killed the two correction officers on a prison transport bus.
Rowe pleaded not guilty to charges of two counts of murder, one count of hijacking a motor vehicle and one count of escape in April of 2018.
The charges stem from not only the deadly shooting, but the three-day manhunt that followed.
When we spoke to Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills about the case in May of this year, he said it's been hard for all parties involved to simply wait.
"Two officers that were brutally murdered and then a phenomenal crimewave after that across two different states, it doesn't get much worse than that," said Sheriff Howard Sills.
Then, a judge ruled to push Rowe's April 2021 trial back to August 2021 due to COVID-19.
If convicted, he could face the death penalty, but as Sills said in May, this is only the first obstacle.
"A trial like this is an arduous task for everybody involved, but we're truly looking forward to getting it done and getting it behind us and hopefully getting right on to Mr. Dubose," says Sills.
Barksdale says they expect the jury selection to take the rest of this week and possibly part of next week.
Ricky Dubose's trial is scheduled for May 2022.