Gainesville man sentenced to life for armed robbery

A Gainesville man was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for the armed robbery of a Gainesville convenience store.
 
Eric Kawan Newsome, 38, of Gainesville, pleaded guilty to all charges in the case. He was convicted of armed robbery, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and battery.
 
"He was sentenced following the guilty plea, receiving a life to serve sentence for armed robbery, plus five years on probation consecutive for the firearm possession," said Lee Darragh, Hall County District Attorney. Darragh said Newsome's aggravated assault charge was rolled in to the armed robbery sentence and he will also serve 12 months for battery.
 
Darragh said Newsome would only be eligible for parole after serving at least 30 years.
 
The incident occurred on October 7, 2016 at the Quik Serve on Athens Street. According to background from the DA's office, Newsome fired shots in the store, grabbed and pushed one of the owners, Mrs. Nazreen Singh, to the ground while yelling and cursing at her. He made off with about $10,000.
 
However, the report states the victim recognized Newsome because he previously had cashed his Fieldale Farms paychecks there, about 6 months prior to the incident. Officials acquired 138 photos of recent ex-employees of Fieldale Farms that matched the suspect description and Mrs. Singh was able to pick him out of the photographs.
 
The whole incident was also recorded via surveillance equipment.
 
"It was a particularly egregious armed robbery, which very much put the named victim in fear for her life. The sentencing was entirely appropriate under the circumstance," said Darragh.