MACON, Ga. — Jury selection for a former Bibb County deputy school superintendent who is accused of killing his wife has been pushed back.
This comes as prosecutors are reportedly working on a plea deal for Edward Judie.
He is accused of killing his wife, Joyce Judie, in 2019 by injecting a fatal dosage of cocaine. Joyce was found dead inside her West Macon home.
Since the start of the investigation in November 2019, we talked with Joyce's family and have reached out to Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney Anita Howard's office.
A grand jury indictment more than a year later alleged Edward Judie poisoned his wife with a fatal dose of cocaine. Now, he and their housekeeper, Aliyah Walker, are accused of felony murder and a drug crime.
Ebonie Toye, Joyce Judie's daughter, says her mother didn't have any vices.
"My mother never did drugs, she did not drink alcohol. If she did, it might be a beer or wine or something," Toye said.
Judie and Walker have been out of jail on bond for over four years. District Attorney Anita Howard said the trial was delayed due to the case backlog after the pandemic, but Toye wasn't buying it.
"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?" Toye said.
The COVID-19 pandemic delayed Bibb County trials through 2020 and 2021, and the case was set to go to trial on Monday. However, court records show just five days ago, prosecutors filed a new charge concealing the death of another.
The Toye family tells us that Michael Parrish with the district attorney's office told them that prosecutors offered Edward Judie a plea deal, calling for 10 years probation. According to court records, Parrish is the prosecutor listed in the new charge recently filed against Judie: concealing the death of another.
13WMAZ reached out to the DA's office and they wouldn't confirm or deny that. We also asked why the jury trial was moved to Wednesday and they didn't answer that either.
Duany Dallas, Joyce's brother-in-law, says this case is taking too long and they just want justice.
"If she died back in 2019 and we're in 2024, when will we get justice?" Dallas said.
Joyce Judie's family and the Toye family are disappointed with the District Attorney and how this case has been handled.
A trial date has not been set for Aliyah Walker.