Inmate In Jail For Double Homicide Found Dead In Cell: Veronique Henry Commits Suicide In York County, Pennsylvania, Jail
A York County coroner confirmed that Veronique Henry, an inmate in jail for a double homicide during a home invasion, has been found dead in her cell at the York County Prison in Pennsylvania. It appears that Henry committed suicide by hanging herself, Penn Live reports.
Veronique and Paul Henry were arrested on Wednesday for charges including homicide, burglary, robbery, theft, and simple assault after they invaded a home and killed two people in Fawn Township in York County, Pennsylvania.
The couple were accused of gunning down and killing two people in the home during a robbery in search of drugs. Danielle Taylor, 26, and Foday Cheeks, 31, were shot and killed by Veronique and Paul, while four others survived.
Inmate found dead at York County Prison; Identity released https://t.co/RS0qTZjFLN pic.twitter.com/AkLafIGmJC
— WGAL (@WGAL) September 16, 2016
One of the surviving victims, Coren Clymer, told troopers Daniel Weldon and Scott Denisch that she suddenly heard a loud bang while sitting in the living room with Cheeks. Clymer said that Taylor was in the kitchen cooking at the time and when she yelled out for her, Taylor did not reply.
When Cheeks went to the kitchen to investigate, Clymer said she heard multiple gunshots. Clymer did recognize the woman, who she knew as “Veronique,” but was not able to immediately identify the man wearing sweatpants and gloves who shot Cheeks, but was later able to confirm he was Paul Henry, Veronique’s husband.
The couple ordered the two remaining women and two children, ages 12 and 14, to stay on the floor or they would be shot. Veronique stood over them while Paul went upstairs to rummage around. Paul demanded they reveal where the drugs were. The couple then left the residence after taking all of their cell phones.
According to York Dispatch, Foday Cheeks was accused of being a heroin drug dealer. In fact, Cheeks was out on $25,000 bail for having been arrested on charges of heroin possession and intention to deliver after a raid by the York County Drug Task Force seized heroin and packaging materials from the residence on May 12. Cheeks had a pretrial scheduled for December 7.
It was revealed that one of the women recognized Veronique, and they were also able to identify Paul Henry by using photo lineups provided by the police.
A state police spokesman, trooper Rob Hicks, believes that drugs were the motive and that the couple had intentions of robbing the home, as well as committing homicide.
“We know drugs was part of the motive.”
Trooper Hicks also mentioned that the couple was spotted driving on Route 322, but they quickly took off after the state trooper attempted to pull them over. The pursuit led to a minor crash with no injuries and Veronique and Paul were arrested and taken to the York County jail.
Thursday morning, shortly after 10 a.m., Veronique was found unresponsive in her prison cell. After multiple attempts of CPR, Veronique was confirmed dead by the York County coroner.
#BreakingNews: Murder suspect found dead at York County Prison https://t.co/7GDklJIaGe
— Harrisburgers (@harrisburgers) September 15, 2016
A written statement from the prison revealed that Veronique did not indicate that she was having suicidal thoughts. Further, the prison requires all inmates who have suicidal thoughts, or those who are at risk of harming themselves, to be put under intense supervision with the option to receive counseling.
An autopsy is scheduled for Friday at the Lehigh Valley Medical Center for Veronique Henry, 32. While her death is still being investigated, the coroner believes it was caused by suicide.
According to YDR, Veronique was charged in 2014 for a drug delivery that resulted in death. Veronique was accused of selling heroin to a 31-year-old man, who overdosed and died.
York County court dropped the delivery charge resulting in death, and instead charged Veronique with possession with the intent to deliver.
[Image via ipopba/AP Images]
