A Mountain Home woman charged with stabbing her 16-year-old son to death appeared during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
Forty-four-year-old Rebecca Lynn Henley pled guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Henley had initially been charged with first-degree murder. She has been an inmate in the Baxter County jail since March 21 last year with bond set at $500,000.
At one point during the sentencing process, Circuit Judge John Putman asked Henley, “why did you do this?” Henley said there was no one reason.
Immediately before sentencing, Judge Putman asked Henley if she had anything she wanted to say. She replied, “no.”
According to electronic court information, Henley called 911 just before 11 p.m. March 20 last year and reported a stabbing at her address along Walker Street.
She is alleged to have told the dispatcher that she “just woke up and stabbed” her son. In a post-Miranda interview, she told police she had to kill the teenager “for righteousness, to save everybody.”
During a court session earlier this year, Henley was expected to take a plea in the case, but told the court, “she would never admit to knowingly killing her son.”
Through tears she said she did not believe she had committed the act. Judge Putman said he would not accept the plea under those circumstances.
During the session Monday, after Deputy Prosecutor Kerry Chism read from the probable cause affidavit, Judge Putman asked if Henley had done the acts described in the affidavit. She replied, “yes.”
A younger son was not injured. He was reported to have been taken in by family members.
According to court filings, Rebecca Henley and her husband had a somewhat tumultuous domestic situation.
Petitions have been filed, dismissed and filed again by Rebecca Henley seeking to keep her husband away from her and the two sons.
The most current petition for a protective offer was dismissed in mid-April at Rebecca Henley’s request, according to court records.
ESTRANGED HUSBAND ALSO IN TROUBLE
Henley’s estranged husband, 51-year-old Trevior Henley who lists an address along Highway 5 South, is also charged in an active criminal case in circuit court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, he is alleged to have knocked on the door of a residence on State Highway 201 North. The homeowner reported she did not answer the door.
Henley is reported to have gone back to his car, removed his clothing and began performing sexually explicit acts on himself.
A chase ensued as Henley attempted to evade law officers. Speeds were reported to have exceeded 100-miles-per-hour.
Henley abandoned his vehicle and was spotted from the sheriff’s office helicopter attempting to hide near some buildings. He was then tracked to a cedar grove by a canine tracking team from the North Central Unit of the Arkansas Division of Corrections and taken into custody.
Trevior Henley has pled not guilty to a long list of charges stemming from the incident and is due back in circuit court in mid-October.
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