<p>A Muscogee County Superior Court jury have found a man and a woman not guilty of the 2002 murder of a 72-year-old Columbus man.</p><p>Erica Rutherford, 20, and Demetrius Pyatt, 23, were arrested in February for the death of Moses Buckner.</p><p>But the jury deliberated for less than two hours before reaching a not guilty verdict in the week-long trial.</p><p>Buckner, a cousin of Recorder's Court Judge Mary Buckner, was found inside his home, dead of a gunshot wound on Aug. 6, 2002.</p><p>Defense attorneys had argued a cross and a chain allegedly belonging to Buckner that was sold by Pyatt in 2002 were not unique and could be duplicates of Buckner's jewelry.</p><p>Attorney Michael Garner said there were no fingerprints found at the scene, no matching DNA and no witnesses. Police found a bloody T-shirt at Pyatt's house that did not match Buckner's blood.</p><p>"It's not a lack of evidence, it's an absence of evidence," Garner said.</p><p>Assistant District Attorney Richard Mobley tried to persuade the jury to convict the pair, saying the killing was a "robbery gone bad."</p><p>___</p><p>Information from: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer</p>
