There’s an old legal maxim that says "justice delayed is justice denied." It means if legal redress is available but not forthcoming it’s the same as having no remedy at all.

The family of Chicora native Caitlyn Kaufman may finally getting some legal relief. It was announced last week that two men will go on trial in January for her 2020 murder in Tennessee.

Kaufman, a 26-year-old nurse and Butler County Community College graduate, was shot and killed around 6:30 p.m. Dec. 3, 2020, while she traveled to St. Thomas West Hospital in Nashville, where she worked in the intensive care unit.

Investigators said her car was struck by at least six bullets, and its rear driver's side window was shot out.

A medical examiner in Nashville said she was struck by a bullet once, in the shoulder, and she likely died just minutes after being shot.

James Edward Cowan, 28, and Devaunte Louis Hill, 20, each face a single count of first-degree murder in what investigators characterized as a road rage-related fatal shooting.

With bond denied, Hill and Cowan have been held indefinitely at the Davidson County Detention Center.

In the long run-up to the trial, Kaufman’s family and friends worked to keep her memory alive.

On July 26, 2021, a crowd of more than 200 people gathered at Butler Memorial Park for a memorial walk and a candlelight vigil to remember Kaufman.

Proceeds from T-shirt sales and a $10 donation to participate were contributed to the Caitlyn Kaufman Legacy Nursing Scholarship Fund at Butler County Community College, where she earned a nursing degree.

A Tennessee law that bears her name and allows for cameras to be installed along interstate highways took effect last year.

The Caitlyn Kaufman Interstate Safety Act took effect July 1, 2021. It gives local governments and police the ability to put recording devices, like license plate readers, along a state right of way.

It could be argued that scholarships and laws in Kaufman’s memory are some small good to come from an act of violence that ended one young woman’s life.

And while nothing can undo a terrible act that took place on a Tennessee highway, the outcome of the trial of her accused killers could bring some justice for Kaufman, her family and friends.

— EKF