TEXARKANA, Texas - A jury of four women and eight men was selected Tuesday to decide whether a local man is guilty of the armed robbery of a Nash, Texas, convenience store in November 2019.
Opening statements and testimony are expected to begin Wednesday morning at the Bowie County courthouse in New Boston in the trial of 33-year-old Kendrick Lamar Hill. Hill is charged with aggravated robbery.
Jury selection took place Tuesday morning at the Texarkana, Texas, convention center to accommodate social distancing. The trial is scheduled to be held in the large central jury room beginning thisd morning at the Bowie County courthouse in New Boston with 202nd District Judge John Tidwell presiding.
Hill is accused of robbing an EZ Mart Nov. 6, 2019, in Nash shortly after a chat with a lieutenant at the Bowie County jail annex outside of the store, according to a probable cause affidavit. Following the robbery of cash from the store's register at gunpoint, Nash police immediately reviewed video surveillance for clues.
Officers watching the video immediately noticed that their suspect stopped and struck up a conversation with the jail lieutenant before entering the store and pulling a black and silver handgun. The lieutenant was on his way out and the robber was on his way inside.
Investigators with Nash police quickly reached out to the lieutenant.
The lieutenant allegedly easily identified the man he'd had a friendly chat with outside the convenience store as Hill. Court records show Hill has a lengthy history of arrests and criminal convictions in Bowie County dating back to 2007.
Because of prior convictions, prosecutors are seeking to enhance the punishment range in the robbery case from five to 99 years or life to 15 to 99 years or life.
Hill is represented by Assistant Public Defender Clayton Haas. First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp and Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards are prosecuting.