BAT WIELDING ROBBER RECEIVES 30-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR CONVENIENCE STORE HOLD-UP

A Chesnee man received a 30-year prison sentence today after he admitted to using a baseball bat to assault a convenience store clerk during a hold-up.

Travis Scott Hicks, 19, pleaded guilty to assault and battery with intent to kill and armed robbery before Circuit Judge Roger Couch.

In the early morning hours of Nov. 23, 2004, Hicks entered the Li'L Cricket Food Store at 5687 Chesnee Highway and hit clerk Carolyn Lee, 62, on the left side of her head. Lee lost consciousness due to a severe head injury and she was hospitalized at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center for a month after the attack. Moments after hitting Lee, Hicks grabbed $7 in coins from the register and several lottery tickets before he fled the store. He used the stolen property to buy $10 worth of crack cocaine.

Sheriff’s deputies released still photos from the store’s surveillance system to local media in the hours following the crime. A telephone tip enabled deputies to identify and arrest Hicks hours later.

"Travis Hicks will have plenty of time behind bars to think about the consequences of his pathetic actions and I hope Ms. Lee can find a way to reclaim the life she enjoyed prior to this horrific crime,” Solicitor Trey Gowdy said.

Hicks will serve more than 25 years of the prison sentence before he is eligible for release.