Man pleads guilty to killing Chesterfield County woman

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to killing a Chesterfield County store clerk more than three years ago.

Multiple media outlets reported that 23-year-old Nickolas Miller pleaded guilty to beating 30-year-old Hope Melton to death with a baseball bat in Kershaw County on the day after Christmas in 2011.

Investigators said Miller chased Melton after she left a convenience store in Jefferson. They say he forced her car off the road, abducted her, and sexually assaulted her.

Prosecutors say they were unable to seek a death sentence because then-Chesterfield County Sheriff Sam Parker illegally obtained a confession by telling Miller he could avoid a death sentence.

Parker was convicted last April on misconduct in office and furnishing contraband to inmates.