FITZGERALD — A Georgia appeals court Thursday threw out charges in the case of an Ocilla school teacher’s death, saying prosecutors waited too late to charge two suspects.

The appeals court ruled that a lower court erred in deciding that Ryan Duke could be re-indicted following a murder acquittal in Irwin County involving the 2005 disappearance and death of teacher Tara Grinstead, a statement from the appeals court said.

Ryan Duke originally confessed to being involved in the death of Tara Grinstead, though later he said the confession was false, past reporting shows. His attorney then claimed one of Ryan Duke’s friends, Bo Dukes — to whom he was not related — was the killer. 

Bo Dukes was convicted of helping move and burn Grinstead’s body but was never charged with murder.

Ryan Duke was acquitted of murder in 2022 but convicted of concealing a death and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Bo Dukes was found guilty by jurors in 2019 of lying to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, hindering the arrest of Ryan Duke, and concealing Grinstead’s death. He ultimately told investigators that Ryan Duke confessed to him that he had strangled Grinstead and had used Dukes’ pickup truck to move the body. 

Georgia has no statute of limitations for murder generally, but the appeals court’s statement said prosecutors had a four-year window in which to file charges after gaining enough “probable cause” to make arrests.

In his appeal, Ryan Duke argued that prosecutors had enough probable cause to make arrests in 2005, setting the clock ticking on the four-year window, which would have expired in 2009. The appeals court agreed, overturning or vacating three cases lodged against Bo Dukes and Ryan Duke.