Arraignment set for inmate accused of killing 2 guards

DA says he’ll seek death penalty for both if convicted.

A Putnam County judge set April 17 as the arraignment date for an inmate who led authorities on a multistate manhunt last year after escaping from a prison transport bus.

Donnie Russell Rowe and another inmate, Ricky Dubose, are each being charged with two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of two guards who were killed during the prison break last June. Both men also face felony charges of escape and hijacking a motor vehicle. Dubose pleaded not guilty to his charges in early January.

Rowe has not yet entered a plea.

Rowe was escorted into a Putman County courtroom last week by five armed correctional officers wearing bulletproof vests. Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills asked for increased security at the inmates’ court hearings after questions arose in December surrounding the possibility Dubose might have been planning another escape. When authorities tried to shave his head, they found a homemade key hidden in his hair that may have been able to unlock his handcuffs.

The inmates’ escape ignited a massive, threeday manhunt that ended in Murfreesboro, Tenn., where they were captured after surrendering to a local homeowner.

Police said the men managed to free themselves from their restraints during a prison transfer in Putnam County and got through the metal door separating the inmates from the correctional officers. Rowe and Dubose are accused of taking the officers’ handguns and firing multiple times, killing Sgts. Christopher Monica and Curtis Billue of Baldwin State Prison. Police said the men then carjacked a Honda that had stopped behind the bus, and drove away.

Adam Levin, the public defender representing Rowe, asked the court to allow him 120 days from the arraignment date to file initial motions.

District Attorney Stephen Bradley, who presides over the eight-county judicial circuit that includes Putnam County, announced last June he would seek the death penalty for both men if they are convicted.

Rowe and Dubose were both serving sentences for separate armed robberies when the escape happened. Rowe was serving a life sentence without parole, and Dubose was serving 20 years.

Dubose is believed to be a member of the Ghost Face Gangsters, a prison-based gang known to be associated with white supremacy.

BOB ANDRES / BANDRES@AJC.COM Ricky Dubose, front, and Donnie Russsell Rowe, shown in June, 2017, are captured fugitives accused of killing two prison guards. Dubose has pleaded not guilty. Rowe has yet to enter a plea.