for leniency for the 41-year-old legal secretary. And on the other, having taken the stand in Crowson's courtroom, were the grieving relatives of Gena Foster, the 34-year-old divorced mother of three whom Henson killed with a single gunshot to the head after the two women were involved in a road-rage incident outside Birmingham 13 months ago (Henson had claimed she feared Foster was about to attack her). "Use your judgment," entreated Foster's mother, Patricia Newell, 64, "knowing that our family is sentenced to a lifetime of loss."
That is precisely what Crowson—faced with options ranging from 20 years in prison to probation—appears to have done in determining Henson's sentence following her October manslaughter conviction. Influenced by what he saw as the need to set an example—"People are going to hear or read about this," he said—the judge gave Henson 13 years in prison (she will be eligible for parole after 4¾), which starts after she spends Christmas with husband Michael, 53, and son Steve, 20. "Everybody has a little bit of road rage," said Crowson. "If [a person] thinks he can't control it, he should not have a pistol in the automobile."
Following sentencing, Henson, who is not expected to appeal, met with Foster's family at the latter's request. "We have said all along that we wanted Shirley Henson to take responsibility for what she did. She offered what we felt was a heartfelt apology," said Newell. "I was somehow comforted by that."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
