DOUGLAS, Ga. (WALB) - Nearly two decades after Doris Worrell was killed, her husband Jon Worrell has once again pleaded not guilty in a Coffee County courtroom. He did not attend the hearing but his attorney was present.

Worrell was arraigned this week for the third time on charges of malice murder, felony murder, and conspiracy to commit murder, accused of hiring hitmen to kill his wife in 2006.

According to his attorney, Travis Griffin, managing partner at Hoag Griffin in Macon, the repeated arraignments are due to prosecutors re-filing the indictment.

“The state has re-indicted it two times,” Griffin said. “I believe there were some drafting errors or something like that in one of those iterations. But this is the indictment that we’re going to go to trial on.”

Griffin says Worrell again entered a plea of not guilty and is preparing to fight the charges.

“We’re ready to defend Jon Worrell,” Griffin said. “We’re still waiting on evidence. We will have a scheduling conference and a motions hearing soon, and then we’ll really be preparing for trial.”

Griffin says Worrell is eager to move forward. “Mr. Worrell is doing okay, but he’s eager to get these charges behind him,” he said. “Our hope is to get a not guilty verdict and to acquit Jon Worrell of these charges.”

The family is still waiting for justice. For Doris Worrell’s family, this latest court appearance reopens nearly 20 years of grief.

Doris’ sister, LeAnn Tuggle, describes her as loving, creative, and full of life.

“She was the artsy one. I was the serious one,” Tuggle said. “We were very different, but we had a very, very strong bond. We would laugh and giggle together. I miss the fun part of her the most.”

Tuggle says she has never stopped fighting for her sister.

“She was my little sister. My only little sister,” she said. “She was the one I was supposed to go through life with. I was robbed of that. She was robbed of her life. I’m going to stick beside her and find justice all the way until the end.”

With September marking 20 years since Doris’ death, Tuggle says the family wants this case resolved.

“I just want it to come to an end,” she said. “I want a trial to take place. I want justice to be found. I want it to be over.” Tuggle also shared a message for Doris’ children, whom she hopes to reconnect with. “I love y’all. We miss you so much,” she said. “Please come back into our lives. We’re trying to do this for your mom.”

Court records show Worrell will next face motions of hearings where additional evidence and arguments will become public before the case moves toward trial.

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