Richard Henyard

Case record — Richard Henyard

Background

Richard Henyard was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court, Lake County, Florida, of multiple crimes including the carjacking of Dorothy Lewis and her two children, Jasmine and Jamilya Lewis, and the first-degree murders of Jasmine and Jamilya Lewis. He also was convicted of the rape and attempted murder of Dorothy Lewis. The jury recommended the death sentence and the trial court imposed it.

In post-conviction proceedings, the Circuit Court, Lake County, denied relief on a motion under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 and the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the denial. A petition for a writ of habeas corpus also was denied.

The offence

On the evening of January 30, 1993, Dorothy Lewis and her daughters, Jasmine (age 7) and Jamilya (age 3), arrived at the Winn-Dixie store in Eustis.

Before the carjacking and kidnapping, a witness observed Henyard and a younger man loitering outside of the Winn-Dixie.

Lewis left the store and put her daughters in the front passenger seat of her car. As Lewis walked behind the car to the driver’s side, Alfonza Smalls approached her and revealed a gun in his waistband. Smalls ordered Lewis and her daughters into the back seat of the car, and then called to Henyard. Henyard drove the Lewis car out of town while Smalls issued directions.

During the drive, Smalls repeatedly demanded that Lewis keep her daughters quiet because they were crying and upset. As they continued to drive, Lewis beseeched Jesus for help and Henyard replied: “this ain’t Jesus, this is Satan.”

Henyard pulled the car over at a remote area and ordered Lewis out of the car. Henyard raped Lewis on the trunk of the car while her daughters remained in the back seat. Lewis attempted to reach for the gun lying nearby on the trunk. Smalls grabbed the gun from her and shouted, “you’re not going to get the gun, bitch.” Smalls also raped Lewis on the trunk of the car.

Henyard then ordered Lewis to sit on the ground near the edge of the road. When she hesitated, Henyard pushed her to the ground and shot her in the leg. Henyard shot Lewis at close range three more times, wounding her in the neck, mouth, and the middle of the forehead between her eyes. Henyard and Smalls rolled Lewis’s unconscious body off to the side of the road and returned to the car.

Lewis survived. She regained consciousness several hours later and made her way to a nearby house for help. The occupants contacted the police, and Lewis collapsed on the front porch and waited for officers to arrive.

As Henyard and Smalls drove away from the scene where Lewis was shot and abandoned, the girls repeatedly asked for their mother: “I want my Mommy,” “Mommy,” “Mommy.” Henyard stopped the car after a short period of time and removed the girls from the car. Henyard and Smalls took the girls further off the road and killed both Jasmine and Jamilya with a single bullet to the head. Henyard and Smalls then threw the bodies into underbrush over a fence.

After the murders, Henyard and Smalls arrived at the home of Bryant Smith in a blue car. Henyard boasted about raping Lewis and about her subsequent murder, and showed Smith the gun that was used.

Later in the evening, Henyard went by the Smalls’ residence where Colinda Smalls noticed blood on Henyard’s hands. Henyard explained the blood as a minor knife accident. The next day, January 31, Henyard was driven to the Smalls’ residence by Linda Miller because Henyard said he needed to speak with Smalls. Henyard made a trip to the Eustis Police Department and claimed to have information concerning the Lewis case. He initially implicated Smalls and another individual.

When police noticed blood spots on Henyard’s socks, Henyard admitted helping abduct Lewis and her children, and he admitted that he raped Lewis and shot her, while maintaining that he did not shoot the Lewis girls. Smalls was apprehended and police discovered the murder weapon after a search of Smalls’s bedroom. Autopsies confirmed the girls were killed by gunshot wounds at close range, and Jasmine’s eyes were open when she was shot.

A forensic bloodstain analysis indicated Henyard was less than four feet from the victims when they were shot, based on “high speed” or “high velocity” blood splatters on Henyard’s jacket. Evidence also was presented that blood spots on Henyard’s socks matched blood of Jasmine Lewis, and that Smalls’s trousers had splashed or dropped blood consistent with dragging a body. DNA evidence at trial indicated Henyard raped Ms. Lewis.

Investigation and arrest

After the day of the shooting, Henyard went to the Eustis Police Department. He initially told a story implicating Smalls and another man. When an officer noticed bloodstains on Henyard’s sock, Henyard admitted helping abduct Lewis and her children, and that he raped Lewis and shot her. He stated he was present when the children were shot but that he did not shoot them.

The police apprehended Smalls and discovered the murder weapon during a subsequent search of Smalls’s bedroom.

Trial

Charges and jury verdict

Henyard was indicted with the following counts:

• Count I: Kidnapping while armed
• Count II: Kidnapping while armed
• Count III: Kidnapping while armed
• Count IV: Sexual Battery while armed
• Count VI: Attempted First-Degree Murder
• Count VII: Robbery with a firearm
• Count VIII: First-Degree Murder
• Count IX: First-Degree Murder

On June 3, 1994, the jury found Henyard guilty on all counts.

The jury recommended death for both counts by a vote of 12 to 0.

Sentencing

On August 19, 1994, the trial court sentenced Henyard as follows, with sentences to run consecutively:

• Count I: Kidnapping while armed — life sentence
• Count II: Kidnapping while armed — life sentence
• Count III: Kidnapping while armed — life sentence
• Count IV: Sexual Battery while armed — life sentence
• Count VI: Attempted First-Degree Murder — life sentence
• Count VII: Robbery with a firearm — life sentence
• Count VIII: First-Degree Murder — Death
• Count IX: First-Degree Murder — Death

The trial court found the following aggravating factors:

1. The defendant had been convicted of a prior violent felony
2. The murder was committed in the course of a felony
3. The murder was committed for pecuniary gain
4. The murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel

The trial court found the following statutory mitigating circumstances:

• Henyard’s age of eighteen at the time of the crime
• Evidence that Henyard was acting under an extreme emotional disturbance
• Henyard’s capacity to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was impaired

The trial court found the following nonstatutory mitigating circumstances, each accorded “little weight”:

1. The defendant functioned at the emotional level of a thirteen-year-old and was of low intelligence
2. The defendant had an impoverished upbringing
3. The defendant was born into a dysfunctional family
4. The defendant could adjust to prison life
5. The defendant could have received eight consecutive life sentences with a minimum mandatory fifty years

Finally, the trial court accorded “some weight” to the nonstatutory mitigating circumstance that Henyard’s codefendant, Alfonza Smalls, could not receive the death penalty as a matter of law.

Appeals

Outcome (direct appeal)

The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence of death on December 19, 1996, in Henyard v. State, 689 So. 2d 239. The Florida Supreme Court held that none of the raised claims required reversal.

A petition for writ of certiorari was filed on June 9, 1997, and denied on October 6, 1997.

Post-conviction proceedings (state)

A 3.850 motion was filed on August 5, 1998 and denied on December 16, 1998.

A 3.850 motion appeal was filed with the Florida Supreme Court on January 25, 1999 and was voluntarily dismissed on June 7, 1999.

A 3.850 motion appeal was filed with the Florida Supreme Court on May 10, 2002. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the denial of the 3.850 motion on May 27, 2004 in Henyard v. State, 883 So. 2d 753.

Federal habeas corpus

A petition for writ of habeas corpus was filed with the Florida Supreme Court on December 5, 2002. The Florida Supreme Court denied the petition on May 27, 2004.

A petition for writ of habeas corpus was filed in the U.S. District Court, Middle District, on December 20, 2004 and was denied on August 2, 2005.

A 3.851 motion was filed with the Circuit Court on April 14, 2005 and amended on May 5, 2005. On June 21, 2005, the motion was denied.

A 3.851 motion appeal was filed with the Florida Supreme Court on July 27, 2005. On April 11, 2006, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the denial of the motion.

A petition for writ of habeas corpus appeal was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on September 2, 2005. On August 11, 2006, the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of the petition in Henyard v. McDonough, 459 F.3d 1217.

Execution and final status

Henyard was executed by lethal injection in Florida on September 23, 2008.

The execution was delayed while authorities awaited final rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court, and it proceeded after those rulings were denied. Henyard was pronounced dead at 8:16 p.m.

Henyard’s last meal consisted of two fried-chicken breasts, turkey sausage, fried rice, prison-made chocolate-chip cookies and Coca-Cola. Henyard declined to make any final statement when asked if he had any last words.

People

• Dorothy Lewis — victim; survivor of being shot and raped
• Jasmine Lewis — victim; age 7
• Jamilya Lewis — victim; age 3
• Alfonza Smalls — accomplice and codefendant; sentenced to eight consecutive life sentences for the abduction, rape, and murders
• Mark J. Hill — sentencing judge (Circuit Court, Lake County)
• Richard Henyard, Jr. / Richard Henyard — defendant and appellant
• Linda Miller — drove Henyard to Smalls’s residence on January 31
• Colinda Smalls — sister of Alfonza Smalls; noticed blood on Henyard’s hands and asked about it
• Bryant Smith — witness at his home when Smalls, Henyard, and another individual arrived; testified Henyard bragged and showed the gun
• Hugh Brockington — husband of Dorothy Lewis; read her statement at the execution
• Wayne Perry — officer Henyard approached in the police station parking lot after Neal hollered for him
• Dan Pincus — medical department supervisor at the Lake County jail; provided information about an alleged suicide attempt
• T. Michael Johnson — Assistant Public Defender (trial attorneys listed)
• Mark Nacke — Assistant Public Defender (trial attorneys listed)
• Michael S. Becker — Assistant Public Defender (Direct Appeal attorney listed)
• Mark Gruber — CCRC-M (Collateral Appeals attorney listed)
• Luther Reed — family friend whose gun Henyard took
• Dikeysha Johnson — long-time acquaintance who saw Henyard displaying a gun on January 29
• Shenise Hayes — saw Henyard that same evening and saw him display a small black gun
• William Pew — acquaintance who saw Henyard with a gun and testified about attempts to persuade him to participate in a robbery
• Lynette Tschida — witness at Winn-Dixie who saw Henyard and a younger man sitting on a bench near the entrance

Other details

The Florida Supreme Court initially affirmed on December 19, 1996 that claims raised on direct appeal were without merit or harmless, and affirmed the convictions and sentence of death.

A Circuit Judge Mark Hill denied Henyard a new hearing, and described Lewis’s survival as “Miraculously, for there is no better word to describe it,” including that she “dragged herself to a house for help.”

Verbatim statements attributed in the record include:

• Henyard: “this ain’t Jesus, this is Satan.”
• Smalls: “you’re not going to get the gun, bitch.”
• Lewis asked for her mother, “I want my Mommy,” “Mommy,” “Mommy.”