Charlotte man pleads guilty in Clover burglary, armed robbery, kidnappings

A Charlotte man who brutally beat a victim with a gun and kidnapped four people during a 2016 home invasion in York County near Clover has pleaded guilty.

Jermaine Lamar Lowery, 24, was set for trial Tuesday but pleaded guilty to all eight charges against him, said Matt Shelton and Dan Porter, 16th Circuit assistant solicitors.

Lowery was one of at least two men who broke into a Birchwood Drive home July 11, 2016. A teen was assaulted, three people were tied up, and a man was beaten over the head with a gun, police said.

Lowery pleaded guilty to burglary, armed robbery, conspiracy, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and four counts of kidnapping, Porter said. Lowery’s sentencing was deferred until at least January, possibly until the hearing against a co-defendant, said Porter and Geoff Dunn, Lowerys’ court-appointed lawyer.

Jarnelle Ladarious Ervin, 22, also of Charlotte, faces the same eight charges, court records show. Ervin remains jailed without bond. He was arrested a month after the crime.

Lowery’s guilty plea does not require that he cooperate against Ervin, Dunn said. Lowery could be sentenced up to life in prison.

This story was originally published October 31, 2017 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Charlotte man pleads guilty in Clover burglary, armed robbery, kidnappings."