Gregory Henderson was sentenced to death by the State of Alabama for the murder of a police officer
According to court documents Gregory Henderson was pulled over for a traffic stop. When Deputy James W. Anderson approached the vehicle he would be run over and killed
Gregory Henderson would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Gregory Henderson Photos
Gregory Henderson FAQ
Where Is Gregory Henderson Now
Gregory Henderson is incarcerated at Holman Prison
Gregory Henderson Case
n September 24, 2009, Deputy Anderson and Deputy Katie Bonham of the Lee County Sheriff’s Department were on routine patrol when they encountered a white Honda Civic automobile that Gregory Henderson was driving. Deputy Bonham was driving the patrol car, and Henderson was traveling in the opposite direction. She testified that Henderson pulled into a driveway as they passed him, and then he immediately pulled back out onto the road and continued driving. It appeared to the officers that Henderson was attempting to evade them, so Deputy Bonham turned the patrol car around and followed him. Deputy Anderson contacted the dispatcher at the sheriff’s office to check the license plate on the car. When the dispatcher reported that the license plate was registered to an older model black Ford Thunderbird automobile, the deputies decided to conduct a traffic stop. Gregory Henderson drove into another driveway. Deputy Bonham turned on the blue lights on the patrol car, which automatically activated the video-recording system in the car. While in the driveway, Henderson turned the Honda to the right. Deputy Anderson quickly got out of the passenger’s seat of the patrol car, drew his gun, and yelled at Gregory Henderson repeatedly to stop. Deputy Bonham testified that Henderson backed up to try to escape down the driveway so she drove the patrol car behind him to block him from doing so. Deputy Anderson was on the driver’s-side of Henderson’s car and, Deputy Bonham testified, “Henderson pressed the accelerator as far as it would go and piled over Deputy Anderson.” (R. 1782.) Deputy Anderson was dragged a few feet by the vehicle and then remained pinned under Henderson’s car when Henderson stopped driving forward. Deputy Bonham got out of the patrol car and fired two shots at Gregory Henderson. One shot entered the driver’s-side door frame, and the second shot hit the engine block. Henderson laid his head over as if he had been shot, Deputy Bonham said, so she paused for a moment. Henderson then grabbed the steering wheel and accelerated repeatedly. He appeared to shift the car from “reverse” to “drive,” and he accelerated each time he shifted gears. The tires were in the dirt, so each time Henderson accelerated the tires spun and dug deeper into the ground. The Honda sank further down on top of Deputy Anderson. Deputy Bonham repeatedly ordered Henderson to get out and to lie on the ground. Henderson did not initially comply, but he did eventually get out of the car and lie on the ground.
Gregory Henderson cried and repeatedly asked Deputy Bonham to help get Deputy Anderson from under his car, but she held him at gunpoint until she received backup assistance and Gregory Henderson was placed in handcuffs. Before backup assistance arrived, the resident of the house where this incident took place came outside. He testified that he brought a jack to lift the Honda, but that the car was too low and he could not get the jack under the car. When emergency personnel and law-enforcement officers began to arrive, additional efforts were made to get Henderson’s car off of Deputy Anderson. Car jacks were used in an attempt to raise Henderson’s vehicle, but the jacks sank into the dirt and did not raise the vehicle enough to pull the deputy out.
Deputy Bonham testified that when she looked under the car, Deputy Anderson was not moving or talking and she was not sure whether he was breathing. More time passed before a tow truck came to the scene and raised Henderson’s car off Deputy Anderson. CPR was administered and Deputy Anderson was transported to the hospital, but he did not survive. The forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy testified that Deputy Anderson suffered burns, abrasions, fractures of the sternum and three ribs, and hemorrhages in the muscles around the ribs. Those injuries were not sufficient to have caused death or immediate unconsciousness, the pathologist said. The cause of death was determined to be traumatic asphyxia that resulted from the weight of the vehicle on his chest that prevented him from being able to breathe, and it resulted in the fatal lack of oxygen to his brain. The pathologist further testified that when a brain is deprived of oxygen for approximately four minutes, irreversible brain injury occurs and, at that point, Deputy Anderson could not have been resuscitated.
Investigators processed the scene. A law-enforcement officer found a large blade between the driver’s seat and the door of the Honda. The State presented evidence from the investigation of the crime, including photographs and a diagram of the scene and the recording from the video camera in the patrol car.
Gregory Henderson presented testimony from Dr. Glen King, a clinical and forensic psychologist who conducted a mental evaluation of Henderson before trial and prepared a written report. Dr. King made three diagnoses: cannabis dependence, amphetamine dependence, and antisocial personality disorder. Dr. King also stated in the report that Henderson was likely intoxicated at the time of the crime. On cross-examination, Dr. King testified that, based on further consideration after he submitted the report, it was his opinion that Henderson was not intoxicated or impaired at the time of the offense.
A forensic toxicologist testified that she had tested a sample of Gregory Henderson’s blood that was taken when he arrived at the jail, several hours after Deputy Anderson died. Henderson’s blood contained methamphetamine and an inactive metabolite of marijuana. The levels of methamphetamine would have been higher had Henderson’s blood been taken closer to the time of the incident, she said. The toxicologist testified that methamphetamine is a stimulant and that a person with the level of methamphetamine found in Gregory Henderson’s blood could be impulsive, easily distracted, and have excessive energy but that she could not testify as to any impairment Henderson might have actually experienced.
In the State’s rebuttal case the nurse at the Russell County jail testified that she drew Gregory Henderson’s blood and obtained a urine sample during her routine assessment of Henderson as a new inmate, and that, as part of that assessment, she asked Henderson about his drug use. Henderson told her that he only used marijuana and alcohol and that he had not ingested either of those substances in the previous two days. Although Gregory Henderson did not admit to recent methamphetamine use, his urine sample tested positive for methamphetamine. The nurse testified that she could not tell whether Henderson was under the influence of drugs or alcohol during her assessment and that she did not treat him for symptoms of withdrawal from intoxicants while he was at the jail.
At the sentencing hearing before the jury, a Georgia probation and parole officer testified that, in 2008, he had been assigned to supervise Gregory Henderson after Henderson was released from prison following a conviction for aggravated assault. The officer testified that Henderson had been on probation for methamphetamine possession when he committed the aggravated assault, thus violating his probation and resulting in his imprisonment. In July 2009, a felony-fugitive warrant was issued because Henderson had failed to comply with the conditions of his parole and he had moved from his residence without notifying his parole officer. On September 21, 2009, three days before Henderson killed Deputy Anderson, Georgia parole officers assembled an arrest team after a tipster provided information that Henderson was at an auto shop. While en route to the auto shop the officers saw Gregory Henderson at the wheel of a white Honda Civic in the drive-through lane at a fast-food restaurant. Two of the officers got out of their car to approach Henderson, and the third officer began to drive to the front of the drive-through lane in an attempt to block Henderson’s vehicle. When Henderson saw one of the officers he “floored” the gas and sped away. He drove around a customer’s car in front of him, swerved around several cars in the parking lot, jumped a curb, and drove through a gas station parking lot. Henderson successfully evaded arrest on the fugitive warrant.
Gregory Henderson’s mother testified about Henderson’s childhood and said she was a strict disciplinarian, but that she and her husband had openly expressed love for Henderson and his brothers. She said that Henderson had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (“ADHD”) when he was approximately six years old and was prescribed medication for the condition. He made good grades while he was taking the medication, but he dropped out of high school after he stopped taking the medication and began making failing grades. She said that, during his teenage years, Henderson began to get into trouble and he began smoking marijuana. Henderson’s mother testified that Henderson had five children, that he had close relationships with them, and that he supported them financially.
At the sentencing hearing before the trial court Henderson presented his school records and reports of psychological evaluations conducted while he was in school. The reports consistently indicated that Henderson exhibited a pattern of behavioral characteristics, such as a short attention span, impulsivity, and overactivity. The reports also indicated that Henderson achieved an IQ score of 112 on the test administered in the first grade, and he achieved an IQ score of 107 on the test administered in the fourth grade. Henderson achieved an IQ score of 96 on the test administered in the seventh grade. He made A’s and B’s through the fifth grade, and his grades in many classes were lower during the rest of his school years.
Henderson testified at the sentencing hearing before the trial court. He testified about his extensive drug history and said that he was under the influence of methamphetamine, Xanax, and marijuana when he ran over the deputy. He further testified that he had not slept for at least seven days before he ran over Deputy Anderson because he had been using illegal drugs. Henderson admitted that he had seen several law-enforcement officers the day of the murder and that he was relieved when they did not stop him because, he said, he had no insurance or driver’s license and because he had been using drugs. Henderson testified that he pulled into several driveways, including the final one where he ran over Deputy Anderson, solely because he was lost and was trying to get back to a road that he recognized. He stated that he had not seen the patrol car drive behind him in the driveway and that he saw the patrol car and Deputy Anderson only after he had turned around and was already moving forward toward the end of the driveway. Henderson said that it was too late to stop the car and he rolled over the deputy. He said he tried to back the car up several times because he knew the deputy was under the car, but the tires spun and the car would not move. Henderson testified that he asked Deputy Bonham to help him get the car off Deputy Anderson. Henderson denied telling anyone earlier that day that he would kill any officer who stopped him. He acknowledged that in a telephone call he made from the Russell County jail he had asked that someone talk to Alexandria Barfield, who he knew would testify at the sentencing hearing, so she would understand that she should not permit the prosecutor to trick her into believing she was helping Henderson.
Alexandria Barfield testified that she had dated Henderson in 2009. She said that she had been in Henderson’s white car at some point before the incident 1 that caused Deputy Anderson’s death. Barfield acknowledged that she gave a statement to a law-enforcement officer after the murder and she told the officer that, before the day the deputy was killed, Henderson had told her that if he ever got pulled over by a policeman she should duck down in the floorboard because he was going to shoot the policeman. Barfield said she had been high on methamphetamine on the day Henderson made that statement to her and again when she told the law-enforcement officer about Henderson’s statement. She testified at the sentencing hearing that she was not high on drugs and had not used any drugs in more than 24 hours.
The Russell County jail administrator testified that while Henderson was incarcerated there he had two disciplinary infractions — he had refused to “lock down” for a head count and he failed to report that some of the security screws in the window in his cell were loose.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/al-court-of-criminal-appeals/1777477.html
