Amy Jeanette AuveUPDATE: Amy Jeanette Auve was found not guilty of charges in this case by a Lowndes County jury. Jurors took less than 30 minutes to find Auve not guilty.

UPDATE: Amy Jeanette Auve was found not guilty of charges in this case by a Lowndes County jury. Jurors took less than 30 minutes to find Auve not guilty.

VALDOSTA — The murder trial for a woman charged with killing her grandmother began jury selection Tuesday in Lowndes County Superior Court.

Amy Jeanette Auve was arrested in Texas and indicted on a charge of malice murder in March for the death of her grandmother, according to police and court records.

According to a Valdosta Police Department statement, police, firefighters and paramedics responded to a home at 4:41 p.m., March 22, 2017, in the 2100 block of Westfield Drive in reference to Auve’s grandmother, Carmen Colorado, 86, suffering from cardiac arrest. 

Family reported that Colorado had fallen and was non-responsive. She was taken to South Georgia Medical Center for treatment but did not survive, according to the statement.

Later that day, Lowndes County Coroner Austin Fiveash told police he received information about Colorado’s death being suspicious. Fiveash said the call came from one of the victim’s family members.

An autopsy was conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The medical examiner conducting the autopsy later ruled Colorado’s death a homicide, the statement said.

“The preliminary ruling was that her death was consistent with non-accidental trauma,” Fiveash said.

Detectives traveled to Pennsylvania and to Texas during the criminal probe. The coroner described Auve as a “traveler” who had friends and family in many spots, and had been visiting her grandmother in Valdosta for a few weeks when the death occurred.

VPD Cmdr. Leslie Manahan said Auve probably figured she was a suspect in the death when detectives went to Pittsburgh.

In January, detectives and the Southern District Attorney’s office presented the case to the Lowndes County Grand Jury. After hearing the evidence presented, the grand jury indicted Auve for malice murder.

Detectives traveled to Frisco, Texas, where Auve was living at the time. With the assistance of the Frisco Police Department, Auve was arrested without incident, the statement said. 

Manahan said police could not comment on a motive for the death. There are no other suspects in the case, she said.

Thomas Lynn is a government and education reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be reached at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256