NC man gets prison after guilty plea in York heart attack Christmas home invasion
A North Carolina man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in a 2020 Christmas Day home invasion in South Carolina where an elderly woman later died of a homicide by heart attack, according to officials and court records.
Travis Randell Baxter, 30, of Grover in Cleveland County, N.C., pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, armed robbery, burglary, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, 16th Circuit Solicitor’s Office prosecutors said Thursday.
Baxter pleaded guilty with a negotiated range of 20 to 40 years in prison, according to prosecutors and court records. York County Circuit Court Judge Dan hall sentenced Baxter Thursday to the maximum under the negotiated deal, court records show.
Sarah Childers, 72, and her husband, Billy Childers, 75, were attacked, beaten and tied up in the Christmas 2020 home invasion and robbery in the western York County town of Hickory Grove, prosecutors said previously in court.
One of the suspects feigned needing help with car trouble, then the victims were attacked and the house was robbed, prosecutors and deputies have said.
Sarah Childers died a few days afterward of a heart attack, prosecutors previously said in court. The home invasion and attack caused Sarah Childers’ death, prosecutors said.
Other suspects charged
Charges remain pending against two other suspects. All three were arrested about a month after the crimes after a multi-state manhunt by York County Sheriff’s Office, FBI and other law enforcement.
The victims’ nephew Jackie Ray Childers Jr., 39, of York is charged with murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, burglary, conspiracy and weapons charges, York County court records show.
He remains in the York County jail without bond after bail was denied in October.
Virginia Darlene Ratcliffe, 33, of Illinois also has charges pending including murder. She is being held at the York County jail without bond.
