A former deputy superintendent of Bibb County schools who was charged with murdering his wife will plead guilty this week instead of going to trial, according to the office of Senior Superior Court Judge Howard Simms.
Edward Judie Jr. was charged in 2021 with felony murder and possessing cocaine. The charges were due to Joyce Fox Judie’s poisoning death after she ingested “many times the lethal dose of cocaine,” according to court records from the time. Joyce Fox Judie died in 2019. Although his case was expected to go to trial this week, a judicial assistant for Simms confirmed a plea agreement was in place and the trial wouldn’t happen. It was unclear what Edward Judie Jr. would plead guilty to as of Monday.
The law office representing Judie declined to comment.
Aliyah Danielle Walker was also charged with the same offenses in this case.
Another indictment was filed this year, which additionally charged Judie with involuntary manslaughter on top of his cocaine possession and felony murder charge.
Judie was hired as deputy superintendent of student affairs for Macon in 2011 after serving as the head of student services for the Clover Park School District in Seattle. He was also a consultant for Macon Charter Academy.
The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office previously said it answered a call at the Judies’ home on Greenwood Terrace on Nov. 29, 2019. Deputies who showed up found Judie’s wife dead in a bedroom downstairs, and he told investigators that he and his wife were drinking and he thought she was asleep.
When investigators discovered his wife had lethal amounts of cocaine in her system, they confronted Judie, saying in a previous statement that “Edward’s story continued to change every time he was presented with evidence that conflicted his prior statements.”
The sheriff’s office also said Edward Judie Jr. had purchased cocaine the same night.
While it’s unclear what Judie’s plea agreement will entail, court records indicate that new documents were filed against him last week accusing him of concealing the death of another. Documents allege he “hindered the discovery of whether or not said person was unlawfully killed.” The charge was filed on July 3.
Wife’s family files lawsuit against former Bibb school official
Judie is also facing a lawsuit related to his wife’s death filed by her children, Corey, Ebonie and Tristan Toye, accusing him of killing her to profit off of his wife’s property and life insurance, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit alleged Judie took some of his wife’s jewelry and cars for “personal use, gain and benefit,” as well as the couple’s house on Greenwood Terrace and another property belonging to Tristan Toye, which was not given to him at the time of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleged Judie, while he was in the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center, attempted to secure his passport, conceal or transfer his wife’s life insurance proceeds and sell their residence. In the lawsuit, a judge issued a restraining order against Judie, ordering him to stay away from the Greenwood Terrace home.
However, in Judie’s response to the lawsuit, he denied being responsible for the death of his wife and denied that he would sell their home. He accused his wife’s children of acting in bad faith and being stubbornly litigious, and requested the courts to dismiss the lawsuit, deny the requests from his wife’s children, and give him access to his “lawfully entitled” funds.
The lawsuit is still pending and won’t be acted on until Judie’s criminal case is resolved, court records show.
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