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A Cherokee County, South Carolina, woman is headed to prison for brutally attacking a man with a baseball bat, Solicitor Barry Barnett announced Thursday.

Kristina Paige Barnett, 28, pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges including assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature at the Cherokee County Courthouse.

A judge issued a 20-year prison sentence suspended upon the service of 12 years and 5 years of probation.

The 40-year-old victim told Cherokee County sheriff’s deputies that Kristina Barnett struck him in the head twice with a bat that was wrapped in razor wire.

The victim said the assault occurred Sept. 25, 2021, at a Blacksburg-area home.

Barry Barnett said Kristina Barnett and the victim were acquaintances and the assault happened after Kristina Barnett became angry. Kristina Barnett fled the crime scene before deputies arrived, authorities said.

Authorities said the victim was taken to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, where he was treated for severe injuries, including a brain bleed and broken bones.

In court, the victim’s sister said she could barely recognize her brother when she first saw him at the hospital following the attack.

Authorities said the victim and an independent witness named Kristina Barnett as a suspect, and deputies found and arrested her several weeks later.

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