Prayers For Stepha Henry And Her Loved Ones

Stepha Henry (who I blogged about back in June last year) wasn't Natalee Holloway or Laci Peterson or even Jennifer "Missing Bride" Wilbanks. In other words, she wasn't a young, pretty, missing white woman. Instead Stepha happened to be black and unfortunately her race cost her the attention of cable news networks and morning news shows nationally who don't give near as much coverage to missing minorities as they do missing white women. So you can't be blamed if you've never heard of Stepha Henry. And now, despite the ignorance of the national media, tragically, after almost a year of being missing, the answer to Henry's disappearance has finally arrived:

The New York City Police Department this week arrested a suspect in the death of Stepha Henry, who has been missing since May 29, 2007. Kendrick Lincoln Williams was arrested on Jan. 15, police said. He was charged with second-degree murder and tampering with evidence, even though Henry’s body has not yet been recovered.

Miami-Dade Police spokesman Roy Rutland said a significant amount of blood – which a forensic analysis determined to be Henry’s – was found in Williams’ Acura Integra, leaving police to believe that she is dead.

Henry, 22, and her sister, Shola, were on vacation during the Memorial Day 2007 weekend. The two sisters were staying with their aunt, Carletha Clarke, in Miami Gardens.

The arrest came after a team of detectives, including two from Florida, found Williams asleep in a car near a Brooklyn pier, police said. Authorities believe he had been living in the vehicle. Police said they had forensic evidence, including blood from Henry found in the black sedan that Williams was driving the night Henry disappeared.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of Stepha Henry.