Jury convicts Pickens man

A jury in Pickens convicted a 41-year old man Friday of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. For Rusell Edward Nix’s crime committed against a 59-year old Vietnam combat veteran, Nix was ordered to prison for 11 years, 8 months. And according to the office of the 13th Circuit Solicitor, Nix will be required to serve 85% of the sentence handed down by Judge Eddie Welmaker. Testimony was heard Thursday and Friday, and the jury’s verdict followed less than one hour’s deliberations. According to an announcement by the Solicitor Walt Wilkins, Nix assaulted his victim after the victim confronted Nix for trespassing on his family’s property. “The victim had observed Nix trespassing on the rural Pickens County property where his daughter and his two grandchildren lived. When asked to leave, Nix refused and struck the victim multiple times, shoved him into a ditch, and continued to strike him about the face and head, resulting in a broken jaw, a fractured orbital bone, and a deep brain hemorrhage,” according to the statement from the solicitor’s office.