Press release
The Henderson County Grand Jury returned indictments against Sarah Nicole Henderson last week for multiple charges including two counts of Capital Murder of a child under 10 years of age, Attempted Murder, and Assault on a Public Servant.
A District Court Judge set her bonds at one million each on the two capital cases along with $50,000 each on the other two.
Henderson was arrested on November 2, 2017 at her home in Mabank, Texas for the murder of her two young daughters, aged 5 and 7, by shooting them in the head with a firearm. It was also alleged that she attempted to shoot her husband as well, resulting in the attempted murder charge.
The Assault on a Public Servant arose two days later while Henderson was being held in the Henderson County Jail, where she is accused of striking a detention officer while he was attempting to release her from restraint.
The cases have been assigned to the 392nd District Court, presided over by Judge Scott McKee who has set the cases for formal Arraignment and a pretrial management conference on Friday, January 26. The Code of Criminal Procedure states that the purpose of Arraignment is for “fixing his (or her) identity and hearing his plea.” Generally, the Court will ensure that Ms. Henderson understands the nature of the charges against her, that her name is spelled correctly in the indictments, and receive her plea to the charges. “In almost every case, that initial plea is one of Not Guilty, although it can be changed at any time, including during trial,” said District Attorney Mark Hall.
Hall says that the pretrial management conference will be for the purpose of setting out dates and timelines for not only additional pretrial and status conference hearings leading to the trial date, but also discovery compliance, evidentiary matters, the State’s election as to punishment regarding the death penalty, and other issues.
“This will be the first of many hearings I expect we will have, and dates are always subject to change, so I can’t say exactly when this case will be finalized. Every case is important, and it does take time to get them to trial, but a capital case is always more involved and complicated than others in terms of the motions filed and heard before the court, particularly if the death penalty is an option,” said Hall.