After strangling, sexually assaulting 65-year-old Midlands woman, teen sent to prison
The teen accused of strangling and sexually assaulting a 65-year-old Batesburg-area woman was sentenced after pleading guilty Monday in a Lexington County Court.
Kadarian Rasheem Smith, 19, was given a 30-year sentence after he knocked on the Midland’s woman’s door early one morning, strangled her, stole her purse and sexually assaulted her, according to a statement from the 11th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
He pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder, criminal sexual conduct and burglary, according to the statement.
On April 6, 2016, Smith pushed his way into the Batesburg home, according to the statement. He hit her in the face and strangled her until she passed out.
Smith then dragged the 65-year-old out of her home and into an area about 100 yards away, according to the statement. He duct taped her mouth and sexually assaulted her before leaving her outside for hours.
The woman was later located by neighbors, and she was taken to Aiken Regional Hospital, according to the statement. She spent several days there.
Smith later admitted to investigators that he assaulted the woman, according to the statement. He lead them to her purse, which he had stolen from her home and hidden in the woods near his house.
Police also recovered shoes from Smith’s house that matched tracks made at the scene of the crime, according to the statement.
The woman appeared Monday at Smith’s sentencing hearing, according to the statement.
“I fear the night,” she said, according to the statement. “That night he didn’t just take my purse, he took my dignity, my security, the good I want to see in people. He tried to take my life.”
This story was originally published November 26, 2018 at 5:55 PM.
