Clinic robber sentenced to 5 1/2 years

A Hohenwald man was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison Wednesday for robbing North Medical Clinic in Chapel Hill on Dec. 20 when he pepper sprayed the proprietor during the crime.

Mickey Morris Murphy, 34, pleaded guilty in Marshall County Circuit Court to Judge Robert Crigler on July 11. Murphy's getaway driver, Derrick Paul Hankins, 19, also of Hohenwald, pleaded guilty on Sept. 24 but has yet to be sentenced.

They fled in a pickup truck owned by Murphy's girlfriend, according to statements in court as Judge Crigler calculated the defendant's sentence. Shortly after the robbery, Marshall County Sheriff's officials said a state trooper stopped the truck on Interstate 65 after the pair fled north on U.S. 31A and then east on State Route 840.

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