York County, SC nephew pleads guilty in aunt’s Christmas heart attack home invasion
A South Carolina man who was part of a home invasion crew that left his York County aunt dead from a heart attack on Christmas Day 2020 has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty.
Jackie Ray Childers Jr., 39, of York, pleaded guilty Tuesday in a negotiated agreement to voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, armed robbery, burglary, conspiracy and weapons charges. A murder charge was dropped to manslaughter, testimony showed.
Childers is the nephew of the victims, said prosecutor Matt Shelton.
“Jackie Childers set this whole thing up, he planned this,” 16th Circuit Senior Solicitor Shelton said in court.
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, Shelton said. Sarah Childers died days later after suffering a heart attack after the home invasion, prosecutors said.
“She died from the trauma in a homicide by heart attack,” Shelton said in court.
The sentencing
Jackie Childers Jr. avoided a possible sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted of murder and burglary, testimony showed.
Childers Jr. pleaded guilty under an Alford plea. South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Dan Hall said in court a defendant can plead guilty in an Alford plea where evidence strongly supports guilt and a jury likely would convict him, even though the defendant does not have to admit guilt.
Childers Jr. was on probation for other crimes at the time of the home invasion, records show.
Childers Jr. said in court he is sorry. He said he hopes his family will believe he did not mean for his aunt to die.
“If I could have my aunt Sarah back I would do it,” Childers Jr. said.
The crime
On Dec. 25, 2020, a woman feigned needing help with car trouble at the Childers home, who were then attacked by two men. The house was robbed after the couple was bound and beaten, prosecutors said.
The suspects threatened to kill the victims as their home was ransacked and money, jewelry, guns and a car were stolen, Shelton said. The suspects then fled.
The case went unsolved for about a month before the three suspects were found in other states and arrested. The FBI assisted York County Sheriff’s Office deputies in the case. Three people, including Childers Jr., were charged in the home invasion.
Travis Randell Baxter, 30, of Grover in Cleveland County, N.C., was sentenced to 40 years in prison in January after he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, armed robbery, burglary, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
Virginia Darlene Ratcliffe, 33, of Illinois has charges pending including murder. She is being held at the York County jail without bond.
This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 3:26 PM.
