Published: October 16, 2009 08:37 pm      

Woman charged with former Berea man’s murder

In what the victim’s mother calls a three-day crime spree, a former Berea woman has been indicted for killing her husband and setting fire to her sister’s home.

Geneva May Brown Hicks was arrested Wednesday after a Taylor Grand Jury charged her with murder, second-degree assault, first-degree unlawful imprisonment, first-degree arson and three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment.

The grand jury charges that on May 1 in Taylor County, “in a continuous course of conduct,” Hicks intentionally caused serious physical injury to another person — identified in the indictment by the initials S.C. — using a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument.

The indictment claims on that same day, Hicks also unlawfully restrained the woman “under circumstances which exposed that person to a risk or serious injury.”

According to court records, Hicks allegedly beat another woman who was at her home with her fist and kicked her, causing injuries to the woman’s neck, arms and legs, reported the Central Kentucky News Journal. The arrest citation states that Hicks allegedly kept the woman in her home for more than two hours.

The woman was taken to Taylor Regional Hospital for treatment of a possible broken nose, broken tailbone, several cuts and bruises and a possible concussion.

Hicks is accused of killing her husband, Randolph Scott Hicks Jr., 43, the next day.

Police received a complaint about 3 p.m. on May 2 reporting a “fight in progress” in Geneva Hicks’ Campbellsville home, according to a report from Campbellsville Police Officer Jason Simpson.

When police arrived, a female came out of the home and reported that her husband had shot himself, the News Journal reported.

Simpson said he entered the home and found Hicks’ husband with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The couple’s 2-year-old son was inside the home at the time of the incident and was later taken to Geneva Hicks’ sister’s home on White House Road.

The grand jury charged that Geneva Hicks caused her husband’s death, “not acting under influence of extreme emotional disturbance for which there was a reasonable explanation or excuse or under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, including ... the operation of a motor vehicle wantonly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death to (the victim) and caused the death of (the victim).”

Several hours later, Geneva Hicks allegedly made threats against some of her family members and arrived at her sister’s home about 9:30 p.m., according to a report obtained by the News Journal.

Police said she knocked on several doors and windows and tried to get her sister to come to the door, but when no one came to the door, she allegedly set fire to the house.

The grand jury indicted her for first-degree arson for allegedly starting a fire to an inhabited building.

Three people were inside the home when the fire started.

Hicks was lodged in the Taylor County Detention Center. Her bond has been set at $20,000 full cash.

Shirley Hicks of Berea, mother of Randolph Scott Hicks Jr., said her daughter-in-law’s actions are hard to comprehend.

“It is so awful that somebody that you knew, someone that was part of your family for so long, could go into a rage like that,” she said.

Hicks said the couple was together for 19 years.

Her son was a caring and tender-hearted man, Shirley Hicks said.

“He had the ability to build any kind of house or building you put in front of him,” she said. “He was a hard worker.”

Kathy Moberly, Randolph Hicks’ sister, said no words can explain how her family has felt in the past few months since his murder.

“It is a journey that never seems to get easier,” she said in an e-mail to the Register.

“He will always be remembered in my heart and I can still hear him say ‘I Love You LiL Sis,’” the e-mail read.



Lorie Love can be reached at llove@richmondregister.com or 624-6690.