Henley guilty
Jury convicts local man of voluntary manslaughter

By Mike Marino
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — A jury found Omar Henley guilty of voluntary manslaughter following a murder trial in 13th Judicial District Court and presided over by Judge Camille Martinez-Olguin.

The jury went into deliberation on Wednesday and returned the verdict at 1:10 p.m. on Friday.

The case stems from the Feb. 6, 2006, shooting of Mark Gray on Berryhill Street in Milan across from the Josephine Elkins Park on the northside of the village.

When Gray was shot, he managed to get to a nearby house for help and was taken by the resident to Cibola General Hospital where an x-ray showed a bullet in his abdomen. Toxicology reports also indicated the use of methamphetamine.

Henley was identified as the shooter and was later found at the Motel 6 in Grants and was arrested the next day at the motel. After investigators interviewed Henley, a search warrant was issued for the room where Henley was staying at the time of his arrest.

Henley was indicted by a grand jury in Cibola County on March 8, 2006. He was charged with murder in the first degree; murder in the second degree/voluntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence in the case. Henley is claiming self defense.

In the initial police interview with Henley, he stated that he had gone with Freddie Lopez to the residence of Troy Canada where he said he remained in the 1992 Honda Civic owned by Lopez. After a short time he went to drive around and saw Mark Gray and another individual drive by in a car.

Eventually, words and threats were exchanged once both vehicles had stopped and there were reports of shots fired. Gray died from those gunshot wounds around 8:45 p.m. shortly after being admitted to the emergency room at the hospital. Both the victim, Gray, and the accused, Henley, have criminal arrests on their records.

The jury went into deliberation on Wednesday and had asked numerous questions for clarification on certain points of the testimony in order to reach a verdict. On Friday at 1 p.m. the two dozen persons in the gallery stood as the jury was brought into the courtroom to render the verdict. Once the jury was seated, those in the gallery sat in silence waiting to hear the verdict announced.

The jury could have chosen a guilty verdict on a charge of second degree murder which could carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, but instead chose a guilty verdict on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter which could net Henley up to six years in prison.

On the count of tampering with evidence Henley was found not guilty. If that count would have brought in a guilty verdict and determined to be a felony, Henley could have faced up to three years additional in prison.

While awaiting the verdict, Henley appeared calm. The courtroom gallery which was composed of friends and families of both the victim and the defendant also sat quietly but there was some nervous tension obvious in hand movements and there were tears on some faces but no emotional outbursts occurred.

The jury was thanked for its services and dismissed and Henley then left the courtroom in the custody of the state to await the sentencing phase of the trial, the date of which has not yet been set.