Man convicted of murdering prison guards sentenced to death

PUTNAM COUNTY, Ga. - A man recently convicted of murdering Georgia guards in a prison bus escape has been sentenced to die. 

Ricky Dubose received the death penalty, according to WGXA. Dubose is to be executed no sooner than July 18 and no later than July 25, 2022.

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.