(AP) — A trial is being delayed for a Mississippi man charged in the hit-and-run deaths of two volunteer firefighters.

The Hattiesburg American reports 33-year-old Brandon Chance Eaton of Sumrall was set for trial May 7. Because a witness is on military deployment, a judge agreed to prosecutors’ request for a delay until Jan. 7.

The witness is a Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper expected to return to duty in December.

Eaton has been in Lamar County Jail since being arrested March 15, 2017. His bail is $3.1 million. The newspaper didn’t report whether he has an attorney.

Investigators say Eaton crashed his vehicle into 80-year-old Clinton Alvin Beasley and 53-year-old Loretta Ann Sykes, 53 on March 15, 2017, and then fled. The Sumrall volunteer firefighters were directing traffic around a wreck.