Derrick Henry, dressed in a white long-sleeved, button-down shirt and khaki slacks, took the stand on Tuesday morning to testify against the three men whom he claims are responsible for the murder of his two friends.
Henry, 18 and who himself has a conviction for attempted murder, responded with a simple yes, or no, as assistant district attorney, Nicole Itkin, led him through the state’s narrative of the events of September 10, 2009, when, prosecutors charge, defendants Raneiro Chavez, 24, Andrew Smart, 28, and Maurice Hall, 30, shot and killed Henry’s friends Antoine Stokes and Steven Hill in what police described as a gang killing.
It was in the early evening of the 10th, Henry told the jury, that he, Stokes and Hill, were sitting on a stoop at 217 Bainbridge St. eating Chinese food when three men approached. One of the men asked, “Are you Chaun City?”
Henry said he was not.
Then, he testified, the men started to shoot.
Henry was hit and, he told the jury, passed out for about “two seconds.” Both Stokes and Hill died. Henry spent three months in the hospital. He lost a kidney and his spleen.
Henry is currently in prison after pleading guilty for a March 2011 shooting. Itkin asked him whether her office had offered him a deal in exchange for his testimony. He smiled and said no. He has already served fourteen months.
Itkin was followed in her questioning by three defense attorneys, Michael Millet who is representing Smart; Herbert Moses, who represents Chavez; and Peter Guadagnino, who represents Hall.
“You didn’t have a long period of time to watch these individuals, did you?” Moses asked when his turn came to question Henry.
“No,” said Henry.
“It happened fast?” asked Moses.
“Yes,” said Henry.
Guadagnino then focused on Henry’s Grand Jury testimony and what he had told police, raising questions about the witness’s honesty. Henry had placed Chavez, Smart and Hall at the scene of the crime in separate lineups in the spring of 2011 and winter of 2012.
Guadagnino reminded Henry that he had identified two of the defendants at a police lineup in January, 2012, telling a detective that he recognized the two from the neighborhood, and from the day of the shooting. But, Guadagnino reminded him, he never identified them as the shooters. Henry later repeated this to a Grand Jury.
He asked Henry whether he had lied to the Grand Jury.
Henry said he had not.
Guadagnino then asked why Henry had not identified the two as the shooters.
“I wanted to take matters into my own hands,” he said, mumbling.
Guadagnino reminded Henry that he was under oath. Henry maintained he was telling the truth. Itkin rose, and to bolster her witness’s standing in the eyes of the jury, asked Henry whether, despite his criminal past, he was prepared to turn his life around when he was released from prison. Henry said he was.
But Guadagnino was not finished with him. He asked Henry whether he lied to the Grand Jury when he testified that he had not identified the defendants as the men who shot his friends.
Henry said he had.
But was he lying today? Guadagnino asked.
Henry said he was not.
Listening to the exchange was Ernestine Stokes, Antoine’s mother. She wore a pin emblazoned with a photograph of her son. It read, “We miss you Antoine.”
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