Murder Trial For Three Men Accused of Killing A 65-year-old Loganville Woman Set To Resume

After some delay, the three Monroe men facing the death penalty in the home invasion death of a 65-year-old Loganville woman will be back in court this week.

Alcovy Judicial Circuit District Attorney Layla Zon confirmed Cory Butler, 30, John Jodie Blackwell Jr., 20, and Barry Marquez Partee, 20, will be in the Walton County Superior Court in Monroe July 15 to again begin motions in their murder trial.

Zon said it had been difficult to settle on a date since the men were being tried together and a date had to be established when the attorneys for all three could be present. The men are accused in the murder of Epsie Ewing, who died a month after a home invasion in her Covington Street, Loganville, home May 21, 2009 left her severely beaten.

She was life-flighted to Atlanta Medical Center, where she remained until her death the following month. Her husband, C.F. Ewing, also was injured in the attack but was released from the hospital the same day.

According to earlier court testimony, Ewing's husband knew one of the alleged attackers, Butler, who went to the home on the pretext of wanting to purchase a truck. After taking the truck for a test drive, the three men are accused of forcing C.F. Ewing back into the home at gunpoint, where the beatings are alleged to have happened.

A neighbor called the police after seeing the subjects flee the scene. All three were arrested within a week of the attack and have remained behind bars ever since.

Former Alcovy Judicial Circuit District Attorney, Ken Wynne – now a superior court judge – called for the death penalty for all three in the event of a conviction and Zon is now preparing to try the case.