HENDERSON COUNTY, Texas — An East Texas woman accused of murdering her children will enter a plea in a Henderson County courtroom on Wednesday.
According to Henderson County judicial records, Sarah Henderson, 31, of Mabank, will appear in the 392nd District Court of Judge Scott McKee at 4 p.m.
The suspect, who was found competent to stand trial in August 2018, is facing two counts of capital murder of a person under 10-years-old, one count of attempted murder and one count of assault on a public servant. She has pleaded not guilty to the crimes.
If convicted, she could face the death penalty. The murder of a person under the age of 10 in Texas is a capital crime punishable by death.
According to the Henderson County Sheriff's Office, around 11:30 p.m., on November 1, 2017, EMS was called by Jacob Henderson, Sarah's husband, to their home, just outside of Payne Springs, on reports of a suicidal woman. He later called officials back stating they no longer needed their assistance.
About three hours later, around 2:30 a.m., on November 2, Jacob called again stating the same woman, identified as Sarah, had just shot and killed her 5 and 7-year-old daughters, Kenlie and Kaylee. A third child was not at the residence at the time of the shootings.
Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse said his office had minor contact with the family over the past few years.
In 2015, deputies were called to Henderson's home in connection with a "verbal disturbance." Two years later, a call was made about a suspicious car parked in the neighborhood.
CBS19 reached out to the Child Protective Services who revealed Henderson had one case in 2010. According to Fox 4, Henderson and her then-boyfriend failed to provide adequate care to a child. The Dallas-area media outlet reports investigators confirmed Henderson’s ex-boyfriend "committed sexual abuse of the child." However, CPS did not remove the child from their care because he went to live with his father. KDFW states Henderson accepted counseling, evaluation and parenting services. Since then, there hadn't been any more contact.
During the investigation, authorities announced they believed Henderson planned to kill her children for at least two weeks. Officials say she also plotted to kill her husband, but the gun malfunctioned, according to The Washington Post.
Henderson remains in the Henderson County Jail on $2,100,000 bond.
