Jerry Henderson was executed by the State of Alabama for the murder of Jerry Haney
According to court documents Jerry Henderson and his wife had a New Year’s Eve party. Sometime during the night Henderson would sneak out of the house through a window and headed to the home of this brother in law Jerry Haney. Haney would come outside and would be fatally shot. The murder would go unsolved for three years until Henderson wife told police that her sister Judy Haney had paid Henderson three thousand dollars to murder her husband
Jerry Henderson and Judy Haney would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Judy Haney would later be resentenced to life in prison
Jerry Henderson would be executed by lethal injection on June 2 2005
Jerry Henderson Photos
Jerry Henderson FAQ
When Was Jerry Henderson Executed
Jerry Henderson was executed on June 2 2005
Jerry Henderson Case
Jerry Paul Henderson asked his victim’s family for forgiveness one last time Thursday before the state of Alabama executed him by lethal injection for the 1984 murder of a Talladega man. “I just want to say that I am very sorry for the pain that I have caused,” said Henderson, 58, a Georgia man who spent 17 years on Death Row. “I pray that the family of Jerry Haney can find it in their heart one day to forgive the pain I have caused them.”
Henderson shot Haney, 33, three times with a shotgun, then collected $3,000 from Haney’s wife, Judy Haney. Two of the victims’ brothers, Talladega police Lt. Billy Haney and Jimmy Haney, silently witnessed the execution, as did a nephew, Blake Haney. They declined comment afterward. Though he never looked their way, Henderson directed several more comments to the Haneys as he lay strapped to his deathbed. “I hope they find the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ that I have found, because that’s the true peace.”
Holman Prison Chaplain Chris Summers knelt by Henderson’s side and held his hand while the two prayed together. Henderson was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later, at 6:24 p.m. He was the second person executed in Alabama this year.
Thursday afternoon, Summers gave Henderson communion. Ministers from Kairos, a prison ministry, stayed with him all day and described him as a joy to be with. “Jerry loved to talk,” said Ben Sherrod. Henderson jokingly said that, for his last meal, he’d like to go to Red Lobster. Instead, about 3:25 p.m., he ate fish, coleslaw, baked beans and French fries, the same meal all of the prisoners were served.
On Tuesday, Henderson’s 28-year-old son, Jason, visited. The last time they had seen each other, the son was 11.
As his execution date neared, Henderson did not fight his fate. He declined to seek clemency from Gov. Bob Riley. Death penalty opponents appealed to the governor but were told that the clemency request must come from the condemned.
Lawyer Justin Ravitz of Michigan had filed unsuccessful appeals on Henderson’s behalf, contending Henderson’s trial attorneys did a poor job of representing him, in part because they brought out little about his background in the penalty phase of the trial. Henderson was abandoned by his mother and grew up living with various relatives. When he was 18, his mother killed herself shortly before they were to be reunited.
Ravitz has said Henderson responded in anger when Haney’s wife and children fled to his home, saying Haney had abused them. The crime was not a ruthless murder for hire, but a family tragedy, Ravitz contends. The Haney family has countered that Judy Haney had plenty of opportunities to get away, and the killing was not justified. She is now serving life without parole at Tutwiler Prison for Women.
Henderson was married to Judy Haney’s sister, Martha, who helped plan the murder. For three years, the high-profile killing of a police officer’s brother remained unsolved. Then Jerry and Martha Henderson parted company, and she turned him in and avoided prosecution. In Henderson’s trial, Tonya Haney took the stand in her uncle’s defense, asking the jury to spare the life of the man who killed her father.
Just before his execution Thursday evening, Henderson gave Sherrod and Kairos minister Tom Duley a thumbs up and a wink. “I just thank the Lord Jesus Christ that I’m fixing to see Him face to face,” he said in his final statement.
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