COURTLAND—A Seaboard, N.C., man on Tuesday admitted in Southampton County Circuit Court to robbing a 73-year-old Sedley woman on her way to visit a resident at a Franklin nursing home.

Devonte Riddick, 18, followed the victim from a local bank to East Pavilion, where he fought the victim for her purse and got $89, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Cooke.

When the victim fought, Riddick “pushed her with force to the ground,” Cooke said. The defense denied Cooke’s claim.

Cooke said a .22-caliber revolver was found at the scene, but the defense argued that Riddick did not point it at the victim. Riddick told police he dropped the gun at the scene.

After the robbery, Riddick and Casey Dante Carter, 18, of Seaboard, led police on a pursuit toward Courtland, where they were nabbed. The purse was found in the vehicle along with a shotgun.

Riddick pleaded guilty to robbery and faces sentencing on Nov. 8.

Carter was sentenced to two years in prison.

Four days before the Franklin robbery, Riddick was accused of holding up a man outside a Roanoke Rapids, N.C., convenience store and getting his wallet with $270. Police caught Riddick within hours and he was taken to Halifax County Jail. He posted $10,000 bond and was released two days before the armed robbery in Franklin.