Darrill Henry

The Crime

At about 10 a.m. on June 15, 2004, 89-year-old Durelli Watts, who lived in the 7th Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana, left a voice message on her grandson’s phone that something “serious” was happening. However, an hour later, when Ms. Watts’ son delivered her lunch, as he did every day, nothing seemed amiss.

But at noon, after calls to the home went unanswered, Ms. Watts’ 67-year-old daughter, Ina Gex, decided to check on her mother. When she arrived, the house was on fire. Before she could enter, a man confronted her on the front porch, shot her three times, rifled through her purse, shot her once more, and fled on foot.

The first call to 911 came at 1:53 p.m. Mrs. Gex was dead. When the fire was extinguished, the body of Ms. Watts was found. She had been stabbed 14 times.

The Investigation

Three neighbors, Cecilia Garcia, Steven Dominick, and Linda Davis, told police they saw some or all of the shooting, and saw the gunman leave. Their descriptions were consistent only in that the man was Black and wore a red shirt and blue pants.

Mr. Dominick described the gunman as 5 feet 6 inches or 5 feet 7 inches tall with a dark complexion, some “small braids or plaits,” and a fishing hat.

On June 15, 2004, Mr. Dominick worked with a police artist to create a sketch, but Mr. Dominick said it did not resemble the man he saw. The media published the sketch, prompting nearly three dozen Crime Stopper tips, which police either eliminated or did not pursue.

On June 17, New Orleans detectives were at the crime scene when they were told that a neighbor had followed the gunman to a home two blocks from the scene. 

The detectives determined that 28-year-old Darrill Henry was living at the home with his girlfriend and that on the day of the crime, he had been arrested on an unrelated misdemeanor charge. Police got a search warrant for Mr. Henry’s mother’s residence, his girlfriend’s residence, and Mr. Henry’s residence. Police seized all of the male clothing they could find, including several pairs of shoes. One pair, which were tennis shoes, appeared to have blood on them. 

That same day, Ms. Garcia’s husband gave police a sketch that he had drawn based on his wife’s description of the gunman because Ms. Garcia — as had Ms. Davis — believed the original police sketch did not resemble the man they saw. Ms. Garcia said the perpetrator was 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall, had light skin, and was wearing dark sunglasses and a hat. Ms. Garcia said the gunman had a thin nose and thin lips.

On June 24, 2004, Mr. Dominick viewed a photographic lineup that included Mr. Henry. Although Mr. Henry had been wearing a white and blue shirt when he was arrested, police inserted a year-old photograph of Mr. Henry in a red shirt. Mr. Dominick first pointed to a filler, then pointed to Mr. Henry, saying he was a “familiar face.” However, Mr. Dominick did not identify anyone as the gunman.

On July 7, 2004, Ms. Garcia viewed a photographic lineup that included the photo of Mr. Henry in the red shirt. After she manually covered a portion of each face to replicate the hat and sunglasses worn by the gunman, she identified Mr. Henry.

That same day, police released the photograph of Mr. Henry to the news media bearing his name and the notation: “Gex/Ms. Watts Murder Suspect.”

Mr. Henry denied involvement and said he had spent that day applying for jobs at several hotels and restaurants. The police did not believe him and arrested him.

On Sept. 2, 2004, Ms. Davis, who had already seen the photo of Mr. Henry in the media, viewed a photographic lineup consisting of the same six photos that Ms. Garcia had viewed, but in a different order. Ms. Davis identified Mr. Henry.

That day, Mr. Henry was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder.

The case was still pending in late August 2005, when Hurricane Katrina raked across New Orleans. The criminal justice system was left in disarray. For years, the records in Mr. Henry’s case were believed to have been lost as were records from countless other cases. But eventually, the records were found. 

The Trial

In August 2011, seven years after he was arrested, Mr. Henry went to trial in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. The prosecution sought the death penalty.

By then, Mr. Dominick also had identified Mr. Henry as the gunman. In January 2010, Mr. Dominick had been arrested on more than 130 counts of possession of child pornography. He also had been charged with five counts of rape, six counts of stalking, three counts of extortion, and one count of kidnapping. At the time, Mr. Dominick had been placed in a holding cell with Mr. Henry, who was awaiting a court hearing. Mr. Dominick claimed he recognized Mr. Henry as the gunman. Ultimately, Mr. Dominick pleaded guilty to the charges and became a witness for the prosecution against Mr. Henry.

Mr. Dominick denied having a deal with or that he expected any benefit from the district attorney’s office. However, the defense contended that jail phone calls between Mr. Dominick and his family showed he was negotiating with the prosecution, telling them he had “leverage,” and that he expected a deal.

Ms. Garcia and Ms. Davis also identified Mr. Henry as the gunman. 

Anna Duggar, a criminalist in the New Orleans police crime lab, testified that no blood spatter was found on any of the clothing that Mr. Henry was wearing when he was arrested the same day as the crime. A drop of blood on his tennis shoes, which had been seized from his mother’s home, was Mr. Henry’s blood, Ms. Duggar testified. No fire-related substances were found on his clothes. Ms. Duggar said there was a considerable amount of blood spatter from Ms. Watts in the bedroom and the kitchen. There also was a smear pattern near Ms. Watts’ body. No fingerprints were found. 

A wallet containing cash was on Ms. Watts’ bed. Nothing appeared to be missing from the house.

A defense motion to call an expert on eyewitness identification to testify about the various frailties of such evidence was denied.

Mr. Henry testified and denied committing the crime. He said he spent the day of the crime getting around on foot. He detailed all of his stops that day beginning with a community development center in the central part of the city. He applied for a job at a Rally’s restaurant, and signed in for a job interview at the Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter. He also applied for a job at McDonald’s on Canal Street. Additionally, Mr. Henry applied for a job at a restaurant in the Warehouse district. The defense presented witnesses from some of the establishments who recalled Mr. Henry came in that day.

Based on the evidence, Mr. Henry would have had to arrive at Ms. Watts’ home between 11:00 a.m. and 11:57 a.m., commit the crime and leave at 1:53 p.m. He would have had to clean himself up, change clothes, and be downtown on foot or by bus to complete two to four more job applications. 

The defense argued that there was no testimony that anyone came to apply for a job who was in a hurry or smelled of smoke. 

On Aug. 31, 2011, the jury convicted Mr. Henry of two counts of first-degree murder. The jury declined to impose the death penalty, and Mr. Henry was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In August 2014, the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Fourth Circuit upheld Mr. Henry’s convictions.

The Exoneration

In October 2016, Mr. Henry filed an application for post-conviction relief and requested DNA testing on Ms. Watts’ wallet and fingernail scrapings. By that time, Mr. Henry was represented by Vanessa Potkin, an attorney with the Innocence Project. Mr. Henry’s legal team also included lawyers from the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and New Orleans Attorney Letty Di Giulio.

In September 2019, Alan Keel, a DNA analyst at Forensic Analytical Crime Lab, testified at a hearing that the tests excluded Mr. Henry. Mr. Keel said he found a mixture of DNA from at least three people, including Ms. Watts. He said that “some if not all of the male DNA that was recovered” from Ms. Watts’ fingernails “likely originates from her assailant.”  Mr. Keel also testified that he found DNA of a different male on the wallet. 

On March 11, 2020, Judge Dennis Waldron vacated Mr. Henry’s convictions, saying that the DNA evidence indicating involvement of others was “of significant and critical evidentiary value.”

On May 7, 2020, Mr. Henry was released on bond. 

The defense then obtained a report from Dr. Nancy Franklin, an expert on eyewitness identification, who concluded that the identifications had been tainted by several factors, including the suggestive lineup in which Mr. Henry was the only participant wearing a red shirt — the same color that witnesses said the gunman wore.

On Jan. 20, 2023, District Attorney Jason Williams dismissed the case.