EASTMAN, Ga. — Editor's Note: Video in this story is from the one-year anniversary of Smith's death.
The death of Dylan Harrison -- a young Central Georgia police officer apparently ambushed, shot and killed at night -- is sadly familiar to people in Dodge County.
Eastman police officer Tim Smith was killed in Aug. 2016. His accused killer still hasn't been tried.
Tim Vaughn, District Attorney for the Oconee Judicial Circuit, says the suspect, Royheem Deeds, could be headed for trial in 2022.
On Aug. 13, 2016, Smith responded to a report of a suspicious person with a gun near Main Street in Eastman.
Smith got out of his patrol car, spoke to Deeds, and then Deeds shot him, investigators said.
Deeds was later found hiding in the trunk of his sister's car in Nassau County, Florida.
Vaughn announced in 2017 that he would seek the death penalty against Deeds.
After a year's delay due to COVID-19, the case is still moving through the courts, Vaughn reports.
A superior court judge recently gave the defense until Nov. 19 to file pre-trial motions, and gave prosecutors until Jan. 22, 2022 to respond.
Motions hearings in the case could happen in late January or February 2022. No trial date has been set.
Authorities said Smith was the first Eastman officer ever killed in the line of duty.
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