April 3, 2012
Contact: [email protected]
(Anderson, SC) Andy Steve Roach pled guilty Monday in Anderson General Sessions Court to Murder in relation to the death of Steven Ross Hughes in July of 2010. The Honorable Lawton McIntosh sentenced Roach to 20 years in prison.
On July 2, 2010 Anderson Police Department officers responded to an abandoned building at 203 W. Earle Street as a result of a 911 call placed by Andy Roach. When they arrived, they found the victim, Steven Ross Hughes, lying on his side profusely bleeding from his head area. Hughes stopped breathing while EMS was en route. A beer bottle and baseball bat, both covered with blood, were located near his body.
Roach gave a statement admitting to beating the victim with the baseball bat stating that he feared for his life as the victim had been threatening to kill him all day. The two met each other at the library and had been living in the abandoned building on W. Earle Street.
An autopsy showed that the victim died as a result of multiple blunt force trauma injuries with resulting cerebral injuries. Acute ethanolism was also noted.
“While Mr. Roach was cooperative with authorities throughout this investigation, even calling 911 himself and admitting to police that he beat the victim, the fact remains that in July of 2010 he killed Steven Ross Hughes,” said Solicitor Chrissy Adams. “Today’s sentence will ensure he spends the next two decades in prison for this violent and brutal crime.”