This browser does not support the Video element.
BUTTS COUNTY, Ga. - Nearly two decades after the crime, a man accused of kidnapping and killing a woman could face the death penalty.
Fuqua Cashaw is charged with the murder of Heather Davidson in October 1999.
Towaliga Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jonathan Adams informed Cashaw’s defense attorneys Wednesday that he would seek the death penalty in the case.
“I made the decision that the death penalty would be appropriate,” said Adams.
District Attorney Adams would not discuss specifics of the case, but said that Cashaw’s previous criminal history, along with the nature of the murder contributed to his decision.
“We want to make sure this person never see the light of day again,” Adams explained.
Deputies with the Butts County Sheriff’s Office arrested Cashaw in February 2015 because updated DNA technology allowed them to disprove his alibi. Investigators had interviewed Cashaw about the crime ten years earlier, but did not have enough evidence at that time to charge him.
Cashaw has pleaded not guilty. He will be back in court March 16.
“What happened to our daughter is every parent’s worst nightmare come true,” Davidson’s parents said in a statement to FOX 5 after Cashaw’s arrest. “You may never this this will ever happen to you--but it can. Finally, we are able to breathe again.”
Adams said he met with Davidson’s parents before ultimately deciding to move forward.
“Before we made any decision I talked to both the mother and the father in our office. We had a conversation about what this meant and the reason for this decision and they supported our goals and supported our decision and seemed to be behind us 100 percent,” said Adams.
According to Adams, the case will likely go to trial in summer 2018.
NEXT ARTICLE: Parents voice concerns about APS school closure plan