‘Tried to chop her to death.’ SC man gets prison for hatchet attack on York girlfriend
A South Carolina man who attacked his girlfriend with a hatchet at a York County store has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Tyquez Terry Myers, 22, pleaded guilty late Thursday in York County criminal court to domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature. Myers hacked his girlfriend repeatedly with a hatchet at the QT store on Carowinds Boulevard north of Fort Mill and near the North Carolina state line in July 2021, according to court testimony.
Only the efforts of an off-duty nurse who was at the store saved the woman from being killed in the attack that left her slashed and bloody, 16th Circuit Senior Solicitor Matthew Hogge said in court.
“(Myers) tried to chop a woman to death in public,” Hogge said in court.
The attack was caught on store video surveillance, Hogge said in court. Although the video was not played in court and released into evidence, Hogge told Judge Eugene Griffith that Myers repeatedly slashed the victim in the back, arms and other areas of the body. The victim spent a week in the hospital and has multiple scars after undergoing surgeries and other care, Hogge said.
After the slashing, Myers grabbed a toddler that Myers and the victim have in common and fled to Charlotte, Hogge said. Myers was not caught for a week — in early August 2021. Myers has been in jail without bond ever since.
The child was not hurt, testimony showed.
Hogge dismissed a charge of attempted murder in the case as part of plea negotiations, but prosecutors required Myers to plead to the highest level of domestic violence under South Carolina law. A conviction for the domestic violence charge carries up to 20 years in prison.
Hogge said the severity of the crime showed a defendant who deserves at least 15 years in prison, if not the full 20.
“Plainly, he deserves a severe sentence,” Hogge said in court. “If it wasn’t for the that woman (the nurse who helped), the victim would be dead.”
Defendant’s attorney: Hatchet was for self-defense
Myers and the victim have a child together, testimony showed. Myers had been a Door Dash food delivery driver at the time of the attack, and the couple lived at the time in a Fort Mill area motel, said York County assistant public defender Chris Bonds, who was Myers’ lawyer. Myers dealt with money troubles and other problems leading up to the attack, Bonds said.
Bonds claimed Myers had the hatchet for self-defense after being targeted by criminals previously while delivering food. However, Bonds said in court there was no reason for the vicious attack on the mother of Myers’s child.
“There is no excuse for it,” Bonds said in court. “(Myers) acknowledges the horror of it.”
Bonds asked for a short prison sentence coupled with probation.
Defendant: Things got out of hand
Myers told Judge Griffith in court he was guilty of the hatchet attack on the mother of his child.
“Things did get out of hand,” Myers said in court.
Myers’ mother said in court her son was a good man who made a wrong decision.
The victim said in court she didn’t want Myers to get a long prison sentence because their child needs a father. The Herald is not naming the victim of the domestic violence.
Judge Griffith, who saw the video and pictures of the injuries, said he was concerned for the victim’s safety before sentencing Myers to 14 years prison.
“If it wasn’t for someone (the nurse on the scene) looking out for her, she would be dead,” Griffith said.
Myers must serve 85% of the sentence before he is eligible for release, South Carolina law states.
This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 9:43 AM.
