The Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled that a jury should decide whether Hinds County is responsible for the death of a pedestrian hit by a car, driven by an escaped convict, nearly seven years ago.

The Clarion-Ledger reports that the county went to the Supreme Court when a local judge declined to dismiss the lawsuit.

The Supreme Court this past week sided with Circuit Judge Winston Kidd. No trial date has been set.

In 2005, inmate Travis Sentell Smith escaped from a work detail at a high school, allegedly stole a car and struck 33-year-old Saun Keith Perkins-Wilford, who later died.

Perkins-Wilford's father sued the county.