2 men found guilty in shooting death of Tynashia Humphrey

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - On Wednesday evening, a jury found Savonne Henderson and Tyree Coley, two of the five men charged in the shooting death of Tynashia Humphrey, guilty of all charges.

Last September, 15-year-old Humphrey was shot and killed in Gilpin Court while walking from a convenience store and was caught in the crossfire of people shooting at each other.

Henderson and Coley were found guilty on each of their six charges, including first-degree murder and discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle.

After more than nine hours of deliberation behind closed doors, the verdict came down. The case was handed to the jury on Tuesday afternoon after prosecutors and the defense presented their closing arguments to the jurors.

That evening, the jury deliberated for more than an hour before they were released for the night. Just before 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the jury resumed their deliberations.

During the course of the deliberation, there were three jury questions, including one about evidence and another regarding one of the jury instructions.

Henderson and Coley’s sentencing is set for Sept. 18 at 9 a.m.

“I’m overjoyed that we did get two out of the five have been found guilty, but what I’m praying for is complete justice,” said Ricky Johnson, Humphrey’s cousin. “It shows you that the work of the police department has done its job, the prosecutors have done their job, now we need the jury and the judge to do their job and make sure they don’t get a slap on the wrist.”

The three remaining suspects charged in connection to the shooting death of Tynashia Humphrey are scheduled for court hearings in July.

TUESDAY’S TRIAL COVERAGE:

On the fourth day of the trial, the last witness for the prosecutors was an FBI special agent that is part of the cellular analysis survey team that conducts live tracking of cell phones.

The special agent presented his findings to the jurors based on the phone numbers given to him by detectives, who said the phone numbers belong to the five suspects charged in Humphrey’s death.

During cross-examination, defense attorneys argued that there was no evidence to show those phones belonged to their clients and no photo evidence of their clients making the calls recorded on the phone records.

Prosecutors argued the cell phone records corroborate the surveillance images police found and used to put together the chain of events leading up to the shooting.

Just after 3 p.m. Tuesday, closing arguments started in the trial.

Prosecutors went first, telling jurors this was “senseless gun violence” as they reviewed the evidence shared during the trial with the jurors.

Defense attorneys for Henderson and Coley argued there’s no evidence to show who fired the bullet or held the gun that killed Humphrey and believes “everything was rushed.”

Closing arguments ended after 5:30 p.m., and the jury returned to deliberate minutes later.

The judge dismissed jurors just after 7 p.m. and told them to return Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.

LAST WEEK’S TRIAL COVERAGE:

On Friday, the trial took several unexpected turns, which included a nearly three-hour delay as the defense said there was the “probability of prejudice” from a juror.

In court, the defense played a recording from a juror who said he was having difficulty participating in the trial after Thursday.

All the jurors were questioned individually about what statements may have been made and to see if anyone else has been affected.

Once the trial resumed, the defense filed a motion to prevent a jail-house phone call between Henderson and his girlfriend from being submitted as evidence.

Prosecutors said the call was emailed to them late Thursday, including conversations about witnesses testifying.

The defense argued that the call was not relevant.

On the second day of the trial, Thursday, the jury heard from more than 10 witnesses.

A former Richmond police officer who took the stand said he and other detectives found the two vehicles. They found a backpack with a rifle magazine and a ski mask, but not the two suspects on trial. There was also no paperwork in the vehicles connecting them to it.

A DNA expert also testified that both of those vehicles were swabbed, but there was not enough DNA to develop a profile. She said she couldn’t say if Henderson or Coley’s DNA was in the samples.

Another witness on Thursday says he was returning fire with one of the suspects, but he didn’t see who was shooting at him. Prosecutors believe the shooting stemmed from an ongoing feud between Coley and the witness.

He testified that when he heard gunshots in the area, he ducked for cover behind his car door and started shooting back. He says he saw Humphrey walking down the street, along with other kids in the area but continued to fire back.

He says he didn’t see who was firing at him and shot up the street, not in the direction of Humphrey.

Prosecutors also say the two were after each other because they believe Coley and the four other suspects on trial are affiliated with a gang called the “30 Boys.”

During opening statements on June 14, the prosecutor said it was a cowardly and senseless act of violence, and Tynashia did not deserve to die.

However, the defense argued police and the Commonwealth’s Attorney rushed this case and judgment and will only present “part” of the story.

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