Her tear-filled audition was just the emotional start to her career as a singer/songwriter and she had many people in the audience sobbing by the end – including her mother.
At just 14 years old, Skilyr Hicks was one of the younger contestants to try their hand at making it big on America’s Got Talent. Tragically, she had lost her father a few years earlier but that was what inspired her to start singing and writing songs.
During her audition she sang an original song that had both her and her mother in tears at just the first few verses.
https://twitter.com/AntonHilft/status/843737698720395264
Just two years following her emotional audition, Hicks went missing after she wasn’t at school when her mom went to to pick her up. It was clear that her upbringing had been tough with the loss of her father and this was just the beginning of a troubling few years for the talented youngster.
Just saw this on Facebook: @SkilyrHicks is missing. Please RT. prayers for her safe return. pic.twitter.com/Pr1nysU1EB
— MEREDITH ANDERSON (@MeredithWRDW) April 25, 2015
In 2017, another two years after she had gone missing, Hicks was arrested and spent time in a Georgia jail after allegedly assaulting three of her family members after coming home intoxicated.
The allegations state she assaulted her grandmother, injured her older sister, and was breathalyzed at 0.126 after officers responded.
Her family opened up about young Hicks’ struggle in an interview with NBC News 12.
https://www.facebook.com/wrdwtv/videos/10155187931828446/
https://www.facebook.com/wrdwtv/posts/10155188667523446?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARArb_1c4NUvCHqR8hgwqLcfFBipP3Fpempk8tfplB1nrI8a6PNZ1W3scDDb5NTfcEV9VeC1mtf_NllIke4yFkktiXYwnCaI4LshPmoVdG7dx_iUDw3p0yUCflilaY1mJOX9n59a2DBxczTy9mReNUUwHv4mnpg3V4752JcGMsT7Vjposx7l-EKMOEK7Eiki4HjxaPsnl3bf0vqAWebu6Em6xUSlyQqknl9TYQTE02vVkGBpuCBYvcq4JrPcu7SDiiC4DG9KxniZKgKawZ0sDw4sExZsyTPxEJSiOKuR5W-F6gG9UZX3RZZ5nJOP_NE-qecu2W0KO3qtxeu_hQ&__tn__=-R
Now, nearly another two years later, 20-year-old Hicks has been arrested again. This time for underage drinking. She’s still in custody in Findlay, Ohio according to TMZ, and has been charged with a misdemeanor offense of “sale to/use by underage person.”
The odd part of the story is that her alleged underage consumption happened in October, but the warrant for her arrest wasn’t issued until this week.
Watch her incredible audition on season eight of America’s Got Talent below.