Jefferson City man found not guilty of murder
UPDATE 5/6/16: Paris Alexander-Henderson has been found not guilty of murder, and has been acquitted on all other charges. The decision came down shortly after 2 p.m. Friday, after more than two days of trial. ABC 17 News has crews in the courtroom, reaching out to both sides for a reaction.
UPDATE 5/5/16:More witnesses were on the stand on Wednesday. There were two eye witnesses that claimed that Henderson was only shooting Sturkey in self-defense. The prosecution also showed the interrogation video of Henderson. It was about 25 minutes long and showed Henderson initially lying about who shot Sturkey. He claimed his brother, who was in the passenger seat of his car, shot Sturkey. After a few minutes into the interrogation, Henderson finally relented telling the detectives that he had shot Sturkey. The trial will continue Friday morning at 9 a.m. with at least one more witness being brought in by the defense.
UPDATE 5/4/16: Day one of a Jefferson City murder trial came to a close Wednesday .
Paris Alexander-Henderson is accused of shooting 33-year-old Bryant Sturkey from a car last April while Sturkey was running away.It happened off Elizabeth Street, southwest of downtown Jefferson City.
Investigators say the pair knew each other and were fighting. There was a question of whether or not punches were thrown.There’s also a question of if Henderson shot Sturkey in self defense or out of anger.
Wednesday , different witnesses took the stand with opposing stories.
Two Jefferson City Police officers were the first to testify. One told the jury he saw no signs of Sturkey throwing any punches.
Sturkey’s girlfriend took the stand next. She was nearby when he was killed.
She denied that he threw any punches and said he was mostly calm during his interaction with Henderson.
The final witness Wednesday was a neighbor who claims she saw everything. She had a different story and said Sturkey was angry and did attempt to punch Henderson’s brother.
The trial is set to pick up Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m.
ORIGINAL STORY: Jury selection is scheduled to begin Wednesday morning in Cole County Circuit Court in Paris Alexander-Henderson’s murder trial.
The 26-year-old Henderson is charged in Cole County with second degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action.
Henderson is accused of killing 33-year-old Bryant Sturkey in April 2015 in the 1400 block of Elizabeth Street. If convicted of second degree murder, Henderson would face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The Jefferson City Police Department’s probable cause statement says Sturkey was shot twice, once in the leg and once in the torso.
The court documents quote a witness, who says she observed Henderson fire a pistol from his vehicle at Sturkey. Jefferson City Police brought Henderson in for questioning, and the probable cause statement quotes Alexander-Henderson as admitting to shooting Sturkey over a “dispute concerning family members.”
It’s unclear what the dispute involved. Details of that are expected to be unveiled during Cole County Assistant ProsecutorGarrick Aplin’s opening statements on Wednesday.
Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce has scheduled jury selection for Wednesday morning at 9. The trial is expected to take two to three days.
ABC 17’s Elizabeth Duesenberg will be in Cole County Circuit Court Wednesday and will have updates on ABC 17 News and on our website.
