Man, girlfriend, mother accused of beating elderly neighbor with bat

UNION CITY, N.C. -- A Union County man, his mother, and his girlfriend are in jail, accused of beating their elderly neighbor with a baseball bat.

Police said Eddie Lowery, 30, his mother, Patricia Benton, 49, and Lowery's girlfriend, Elisha Hicks, 34, violently assaulted 73-year-old Willie Adams Saturday night at his home on Bigham Road, WSOC reports.

Reports show Benton and Lowery lived a few doors down from Adams, and that Lowery was known to visit the man often.

Detectives believe Lowery, Benton, and Hicks wanted to rob Adams, adding that the trio went to his home and attacked him with a baseball bat when he opened the door.

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Police said Adams was hit repeatedly with the bat before his wallet was stolen.

The three are also accused of breaking the window of Adams' vehicle and stealing cash from inside.

Adams was found by his cousin around noon the next day and was rushed to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.

"He wasn't looking too good, and I called out his name, and he couldn't talk," cousin Bobby Bradley told WSOC.

Lowery, Benton, and Hicks were charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inflicting serious injury, robbery with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery, first-degree burglary, breaking and entering a motor vehicle, and larceny.

Officials said the beating was so severe that Adams was still in the hospital on Monday.