Murder charges stand in double slaying

Erica D. Johnson

Monday, April 7, 2003 | 9:25 a.m.

A District Court judge on Friday refused to toss out murder charges against one of three men charged in a double slaying, but said a conviction on the charges was unlikely.

District Judge Kathy Hardcastle ruled that Chester Lee Henry should stand trial on murder charges stemming from the Aug. 7 drive-by shooting deaths of Thomas Sterling and Reginald Slaughter near Martin Luther King and Lake Mead boulevards.

Henry also faces five other felony counts, including attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon with intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang and firearm charges.

Henry's co-defendants, Lawrence Doyle, 22, and Darrin Lay, 22, face similar charges.

Hardcastle said she doubted the state would be able to convince a jury that Henry is guilty of murder because little evidence links Henry to the scene of the crime.

"It's not a strong case on the murder charge," she said. "There was enough evidence to bind him over, but I'm not sure it's enough for a conviction."

Hardcastle's ruling came after defense attorney David Shieck argued that the murder charges should be dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

"Mr. Henry at best was an accessory after the fact," he said.

But Deputy District Attorney Melissa De La Garza said plenty of evidence points to Henry.

Henry was found moments after the incident with an AK-47 handgun, and bullet casings from the gun matched the ones found at the scene, she said.

Henry was also found only a quarter of a mile from where the shooting occurred and about 300 feet away from the car used in the shooting, she said.

De La Garza said eyewitnesses claim there was at least one other person in the car with Doyle and Lay when the shooting occurred.

"There is clearly more than enough evidence," she said.

Hardcastle also granted Shieck's motion to separate Henry's trial from his co-defendants' joint trial.