A Eustis teen-ager who has admitted his involvement in the weekend killings of two sisters and the shooting of their mother was released from jail three weeks ago, authorities said on Monday.
Richard Henyard Jr., 18, had been jailed in October on an auto theft charge but was released last month to participate in a special program for non-violent offenders.
Henyard told police on Sunday that he and Alphonso Small, 14, of Eustis abducted Dorothy Reid Lewis, 35, a church leader, and her two daughters from a Eustis shopping center on Saturday night.
They drove to a remote area, where the mother was assaulted and the shootings occurred, police reports said.
Lewis is in Orlando Regional Medical Center, where hospital officials said on Monday she is expected to fully recover from gunshot wounds in her forehead and mouth. Spokeswoman Cindy Baker said her condition improved from serious to stable and that she will be moved out of intensive care to a regular room soon. Baker would not say whether Lewis knew her daughters were killed.
Meanwhile, Henyard and Small are trading accusations.
Small’s mother, Annette Small, said on Monday that she summoned police to her house after her son told her that Henyard shot Lewis and her daughters.
“He told me Rick-Rick (Henyard) shot the people, and he made him watch,” Small said. “He said Rick-Rick told him that if he runs, he’d be next.”
An arrest report shows that Henyard told police that he shot Lewis and Small shot Jamilya, 7, and Jasmine, 3.
The two are charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping a child under 13, false imprisonment, sexual battery and auto theft. Henyard also is charged with attempted murder and use of a firearm during a felony.
A third suspect, Manuel Yon, 16, has been charged with being an accessory.
