Proceeds from a Pioneer Pursuit Fall 2022 on Sept. 24 at Butler County Community College will benefit the Caitlyn Kaufman ’18 Legacy Nursing Scholarship available from the BC3 Education Foundation. Kaufman, formerly of Chicora and a 2012 graduate of Butler Senior High School, earned an associate degree in Nursing, from BC3 in 2018. She was killed in 2020 in Tennessee. Submitted Photo

Jury selection is underway Monday in the trial of two men accused of killing Butler County native Caitlyn Kaufman in a possible road rage incident.

James Cowan, 29, and Devaunte Hill, 23, both of Tennessee, are facing first-degree murder charges in the Dec. 3, 2020, death of Kaufman, a Chicora native and Nashville nurse who was 26 years old.

Kaufman was shot in December 2020 while she was driving to St. Thomas West Hospital, where she worked as a nurse in the intensive care unit.

In a hearing in January, a witness and investigators said Kaufman may have cut off the defendants' car in traffic as they traveled along Interstate 440 in Nashville. Investigators said her car was struck by at least six bullets and her rear driver's side window was shot out. She died at the scene.

Ballistic tests on a gun recovered from a witness's vehicle confirmed that it matched shell casings found on Interstate 440, where Kaufman was shot.

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