GLOUCESTER COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — A man accused in the death of a Gloucester man was denied bond Friday.
24-year-old Winfrey Carlton Henry Jr. is facing charges of second-degree murder, using a firearm in the commission of a felony and concealing the body of Kayron Long, 36. One of his roommates at the home on Back Creek Road, Edward Hodges, is charged with accessory to murder after the fact and concealing a body.
The case has a second set of defendants whose charges are not connected with Long’s death.
Judge Stephanie Revere denied bond for Henry Friday morning. His attorney, S.W. Dawson, said he was not surprised with the outcome and spoke in terms of self-defense.
“The law is very clear in Virginia that any force that someone uses and that person reasonably believes that his life is in danger, an appropriate amount of force to repel that threat is valid,” Dawson said.
Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney T. Marie Walls told the court Henry was involved with fentanyl, heroin and meth. She says Henry and Long got into an argument and Henry initially shot Long once or twice, then, Henry allegedly told investigators, he thought Long was going to die anyway, so he shot him several more times in the arm, leg and abdomen.
The Commonwealth said blood was found in Long’s room, and following his death, Long’s valuables ended up in Henry’s room.
Henry’s roommate, Edward Hodges, reportedly does landscaping in an area known as the Temple Estate along Carmines Island Road, about 14 miles from the home where Long, Henry and Hodges lived. The sheriff’s department says Long’s body was found nearby.
The owner of a lawn equipment repair shop near the estate, Windom Fields, said Hodges would occasionally bring equipment to his shop for repair. Fields said he saw Hodges and another man leaving the property in Hodges’ Evergreen landscaping truck the afternoon of Saturday Feb. 11.
That’s the day after authorities say Long was killed – and just a day before his body was found.
Hodges is charged with accessory after the fact for allegedly helping Henry to wrap Long’s body in a tarp and then using Hodges’ truck to move the body to the wooded spot where it was found buried.
Fields said he was surprised to see one of his clients on the news.
“He probably just got caught up with the wrong crowd,” Fields said. “I spoke to his dad and he said the same thing to him.”
Deputies took Kathryne Elizabeth Wright, David Isiah Ford and a 17-year-old boy into custody in connection with the home invasion, but not the killing of Long. Multiple firearms were found in their vehicle, according to the sheriff’s office. Authorities say the teen has turned 18 in the time since his arrest.