Man convicted of murdering corrections officers during Georgia prison bus escape

PUTNAM COUNTY, Ga. - A man accused of murdering corrections officers during a Putnam County prison bus escape has been found guilty. 

A jury in Putnam County convicted 29-year-old Ricky DuBose after deliberating for less than two hours. 

The case moves to sentencing, where a jury will decide if DuBose should be put to death or receive life in prison. 

Prosecutors accused Dubose and fellow prisoner Donnie Rowe of fatally shooting Sgt. Christopher Monica and Sgt. Curtis Billue while escaping from a prison transfer bus southeast of Atlanta in June 2017. Security cameras on the bus recorded the violent escape while roughly 30 other prisoners witnessed the killings from the back of the bus. Dubose and Rowe overpowered the officers, stole their guns and shot them before escaping. They were arrested in Tennessee days later.

Rowe was found guilty in a separate trial in September 2021 and sentenced to serve life in prison without parole. Rowe was already serving a sentence of life without parole for an armed robbery conviction when the guards were slain four years ago.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.