
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 18, 1991                   TAG: 9104180423
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MAN CONVICTED OF BEATING WIFE/

A Roanoke man was convicted Wednesday after he hesitantly pleaded no contest to charges of beating and stomping his estranged wife so severely that she was left brain-damaged and permanently disabled.

Ricky Anthony Hickman, who had entered the same plea last year but was allowed to withdraw it, spread his arms in the air when the judge asked for his latest plea.

"I don't know," he said. Roanoke Circuit Judge Clifford Weckstein told Hickman, 36, that he would enter pleas of not guilty for him. "Whatever you say," Hickman said.

But Hickman, who faces life in prison plus 20 years for breaking and entering with intent to murder and the aggravated malicious wounding of Angela O. Hickman, changed his mind and pleaded no contest before a jury could be impaneled. He will be sentenced later.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Hill provided a summary of the evidence:

About 12:50 a.m. on April 11, 1990, Hickman used his fist to smash the door glass of a Hanover Avenue home, then broke the door down.

After running upstairs and kicking in a bedroom door, Hickman found his estranged wife and yelled: "I'm going to kill you."

Angela Hickman, 32, ran into a bedroom she and her husband once had shared. Hickman followed, and other residents of the home said they heard a series of "thumps."

A woman who walked into the room saw Angela Hickman curled in a fetal position in a corner. Ricky Hickman was standing over her, his arm propped against a wall for leverage as he repeatedly stomped her in the head.

Angela Hickman suffered severe head injuries and spent several weeks in a coma at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

She now can speak a few words and moves around with the aid of walker. She still must be fed through a tube, but recognizes the sound of her name and lifts her hand in response.

With Angela Hickman still unable to explain what happened, authorities say they do not have a clear motive for the beating.

Ricky Hickman said Wednesday that he wanted more time to investigate the case and examine medical records before going to trial. But Weckstein was ready to proceed before Hickman changed his plea to no contest.

by CNB