COLBERT COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — A former Tuscumbia police officer charged with murder appeared in a Colbert County courtroom on Monday and is now set to appear for a jury trial in February 2024.

James “Jay” Keith Steward, 34, a former officer for the Tuscumbia Police Department, was arrested on Friday after a Colbert County grand jury indicted him for reckless murder in connection to the October 2022 pedestrian vs. vehicle incident that killed 60-year-old Terry Hinton.

Steward was set to go on trial October 23. Colbert County Circuit Judge Kyle Brown continued Steward’s case during a pretrial hearing on Monday, re-setting his jury trial for February 12, 2024 and another pretrial hearing for January 31, 2024.

Tuscumbia Police Chief Tony Logan said the department received a call about a pedestrian struck by a vehicle on Hawk Pride Mountain Road in Tuscumbia around 8:16 p.m. on October 10, 2022. An officer driving a marked Tuscumbia police vehicle was involved and taken by Keller EMS to a nearby landing zone at the New Bethel Elementary School.

Colbert County Deputy Coroner Matt Moore pronounced Hinton dead on the scene, while Steward was airlifted to an area hospital where he would have surgery for his injuries.

According to the Colbert County grand jury’s indictment, Steward was “under the influence of alcohol and/or under the combined influence of alcohol and a controlled substance and/or speeding and/or driving on the wrong side of the road” at the time of the incident.

Online court documents show Steward was arrested after the indictment was returned on March 10, 2023, and was released from custody three days later on a $300,000 property bond.

Steward remains out on bond while he waits for his February trial.