Ricky Allen Dubose was sentenced to death by the State of Georgia for the murders of two prison guards during an escape. According to court documents Ricky Allen Dubose and Donnie Rowe were able to slip out of their handcuffs while being transported by prison employees. Ricky Allen Dubose would grab an officer’s gun and open fire killing correctional guards Curtis Billue and Christopher Monica. Ricky Allen Dubose and Donnie Rowe would be arrested in Tennessee and extradited back to Georgia to stand trial for the double murder. Donnie Rowe would be ultimately sentenced to life in prison without parole. Ricky Allen Dubose would be ultimately sentenced to death. Shortly after he was sentenced Ricky Allen Dubose would take his own life
Ricky Allen Dubose More News
Ricky Allen “Juvie” Dubose is the latest inmate in Georgia to be sentenced to death for the crime of murder.
Dubose shot to death Georgia Department of Corrections Sgt. Curtis Bernard Billue and Sgt. Christopher James Monica during an escape from a state prison transport bus on June 13,2017, in Putnam County.
A jury of six men and six women from Glynn County deliberated nearly three hours Thursday afternoon before returning a unanimous verdict of death against the 29-year-old condemned killer in Putnam County Superior Court in Eatonton.
The double-death sentence, plus 20 years, was imposed against Dubose by Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Alison T. Burleson shortly before 3:30 p.m.
The judge reviewed the verdict of the jurors and then told them, along with the five alternate jurors, that they were allowed to stay in the courtroom for the sentencing procedure or they could leave and board a mini-bus back to Glynn County. All 17 jurors opted to leave the courtroom with the thanks of the court for their service.
Dubose stood with Georgia Capital Defender Attorneys Amber Pittman, Nathanael Studelska, Gerald “Jerry” Word and Shayla Galloway, as Burleson imposed the punishment against him. As was the case throughout the trial, Dubose showed no emotion.
Jurors deliberating Dubose’s fate determined there were aggravated circumstances related to the murders of the officers. They both worked in the transportation hub at Baldwin State Prison near Milledgeville. Both men also lived in Baldwin County.
Evidence presented during the 10-day murder trial revealed that Dubose is a member of the Ghost Face Gangsters, a criminal gang that operates in and out of Georgia prisons.
While family members of the slain officers received the justice they had been seeking for their loved ones, others in the courtroom, including his wife, could be seen crying for Dubose. The couple reportedly married some time ago while Dubose awaited trial in the five-year-old double-murder case.
Members of the Billue and Monica families embraced several people who joined them in the courtroom gallery to support them. Many of them included employees and officials from the Georgia Department of Corrections, as well as church groups, victim advocates from the district attorney’s office, along with District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale III, Chief Assistant District Attorney Allison Mauldin, Assistant District Attorney Blyne May and Putnam County Sheriff Howard R. Sills.
Dubose, who had worn dress slacks, a long sleeve dress shirt and a necktie every day of his trial, was immediately handcuffed after sentencing. He then met briefly with his defense team and was then told to change from his dress clothes into white inmate prison garb before he was placed into the rear seat of a patrol car and taken back to the Georgia Special Management Unit (SMU) prison near Jackson.
He now is among more than 40 men and one woman on death row in Georgia.
Ricky Allen Dubose Suicide
A 29-year-old man has died behind bars more than a week after he was sentenced to death for murdering two prison guards in Georgia
Ricky Allen Dubose hanged himself, a local law enforcement official said, according to The Union-Recorder.
“He committed suicide,” Putnam County Sheriff Howard R. Sill told the outlet. “The suicide could be done about as quick as it took for him to murder Billue and Monica. It doesn’t take long to do It. If somebody is going to do it, it can happen in a matter of seconds.”
The sheriff said he confirmed Dubose’s death with Georgia Department of Corrections personnel. The agency did not specify a cause of death in a press release issued Sunday.
“On June 26, at approximately 4:45 p.m., Correctional Officers found inmate Ricky Dubose (GDC#1000492869) unresponsive in his cell,” officials said. “Emergency Medical Services were called and life saving measures were performed. Dubose was pronounced deceased by the coroner at the facility at 5:56 p.m. GDC, in conjunction with the GBI is conducting an investigation into the death, as standard procedure.”
Dubose’s defense mourned for him, said a member of the team.
“This is extremely devastating to all of us, even though I’d only known Ricky closely for about a year,” attorney Gerald “Jerry” Word told The Union-Recorder. “Amber Pittman and Nathanael Studelska had gotten to know him for five years. And Shayla Galloway had gotten to know him well, too.”
Dubose and fellow inmate Donnie Rowe overpowered two prison guards — officers Curtis Billue and Christopher Monica — on a prison transport bus in June 2017. Dubose took one of their guns, and fatally shot them. He and Rowe fled after carjacking a nearby driver, reaching Tennessee. They held a couple hostage, tied them up, took their valuables and clothes, and threatened them to keep quiet, Bedford County Sheriff Austin Swing said at the time, according to The Associated Press. But the fugitives ultimately surrendered. Law enforcement said they gave themselves up not to officials, but to a local man.
“I realized I had two ex-cons wanted for murder who had just shot at law enforcement who had nothing to lose and for some reason they surrendered and laid down on the concrete in my driveway,” Patrick Hale told the AP at the time. “If that doesn’t make you believe in Jesus Christ, I don’t know what does.”
Although both men separately went to trial and were convicted, Dubose was the one who received the death penalty as the actual gunman. Rowe received a sentence of life in prison without parole. Dubose’s attorneys argued in court that Rowe was the one directing their client’s actions, and that their client was intellectually disabled.
“Ricky did shoot at people, Ricky did,” attorney Gabrielle Pittman said, according to WMAZ. “But you know who was driving, you know who put the gun in his hands, you know who told him to hang out the window and shoot? That was Donnie.”
Prosecutor T. Wright Barksdale called Dubose “an intelligent, calculated criminal,” however.
Billue and Monica’s families welcomed the verdict and sentence against Dubose.
“The closure that the judicial system has brought to us has given us great hope because I know the next step is going to be healing,” Curtis’ sister Denise Billue said, according to WMAZ in a June 16 report. “We know that we will never move on without Curt, but we will move forward.”
“I’m extremely grateful for everybody involved in making this happen and getting justice for my dad,” Christopher’s daughter Zoey Monica said. “I’m just excited about getting to finally feel some sort of peace with everything.”