A Coweta County jury (this month) convicted Renargo Hutcherson of Kidnapping, Aggravated Stalking, Felony Battery- Family Violence, and Cruelty to Children in the Third Degree. After evidence of multiple prior convictions for other acts of Family Violence committed against multiple victims was presented at the sentencing hearing, Coweta Superior Court Judge Emory Palmer sentenced Hutcherson to 35 years in prison, which was the maximum sentence allowed by law. In addition, as required by Georgia’s kidnapping law, Hutcherson will not be eligible for parole for the first 20 years of his sentence. The case was investigated by the Newnan Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Jillian Brasfield and Jared Parrish.
Hutcherson and the victim began dating 10 years ago and were married in 2016. Their relationship was defined by abuse that was physical, emotional, and mental. Hutcherson dominated and micromanaged nearly every aspect of the victim’s life- through isolation, intimidation, manipulation, violence, and tightly enforced rules and regulations on her behavior. Over the course of the relationship, Hutcherson’s possessive, controlling, and violent behavior escalated both in frequency and intensity. Some of these abusive incidents resulted in the victim or other citizens calling law enforcement, however, Hutcherson was able to continue to abuse the victim.
In one such incident on September 18, 2018, which was indicted as Battery and presented in this jury trial, Hutcherson returned home from work in an irate state and attacked the victim, who was 9 months pregnant, and who was sleeping in bed with their 2-year-old son. After Hutcherson fell asleep, the victim, who had visible injuries from the assault, summoned the courage to call 911. Hutcherson was then arrested and received an order to have no contact with the victim while the case was pending. However, after the victim gave birth to their child, she and Hutcherson began to live together again in violation of the protective order.
In mid-2019, after another assault which left bruises on the victim’s arms and legs, the victim told her family that she was in an abusive relationship. With their support, on August 19, 2019, she packed her things and fled the residence with their kids. Hutcherson then stalked the victim for a week by calling her over a hundred times and repeatedly visiting her workplace, all of which violated the court order issued after the September 2018 arrest and constituted the crime of Aggravated Stalking.
On Friday, August 23, 2019, the victim left her workplace at the end of the day to find Hutcherson blocking in her vehicle and asking her to speak to him. Although the victim had maintained her opposition to Hutcherson throughout the week, he convinced her to get into his vehicle under the pretense that he would move his vehicle so another vehicle could get out of the parking lot. Instead, Hutcherson drove away with the victim in his car and took her against her will over two hundred miles away to South Carolina. After not hearing from her for several hours, the victim’s family contacted law enforcement who was able to locate Hutcherson and the victim in a hotel in South Carolina. This incident was the basis for the indicted charge of Kidnapping.
District Attorney Herb Cranford would like to commend the courage and strength of this survivor for enduring Hutcherson’s years of abuse and for having the courage to seek help and testify against him. As a result, Hutcherson will no longer be able to hurt her, their children, or any other women. This case demonstrates the commitment of the District Attorney’s Office to help victims of domestic violence become survivors by breaking the cycle of violence, and to remove violent domestic abusers from our community with substantial prison sentences.
This media released was shared with WLBB Radio from the District Attorney’s Office
