TIFTON, GA (WALB) – Paul Bowden, the District Attorney for the Tift Judicial Circuit, sent a letter to Irwin County Superior Court Judge Bill Reinhardt presiding over the murder trial of the man accused of killing Tara Grinstead over a decade ago, declining agreement to move the trial, which is set to begin April 1, 2019.

Bowden sent the letter to Reinhardt, stating that his office would not join in on Ryan Duke’s defense motion for a change of venue from Ocilla.

Walb reported in December, Judge Reinhardt denied a motion filed by Duke’s attorneys. They asked the judge to reconsider their previous motion to drop charges against Duke, and a certificate of immediate review to appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court.