Javarick Henderson, Jr., 13, was arrested on November 25th for the stabbing death of his grandmother, Gloria Davis and was initially charged with second degree murder. On Friday, a grand jury indicted Henderson of first degree murder meaning that he is to be tried as an adult.
An order was signed on Sunday by a judge ordering Henderson to be moved from the juvenile assessment facility to the adult jail. A representative with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office explained that Henderson will not be kept with the general population but rather, in a juvenile holding area within the jail where there are seven others under the age of 18.
He appeared in court today by video and he was ordered to be held without bail. A public defender has already been assigned to his case as he was initially arraigned as a juvenile last month.
As a juvenile, Henderson stood to be released from the juvenile facility by December 16th. Chief assistant state attorney for Pinellas and Pasco counties Bruce Bartlett was concerned about that prospect.
"I can’t take a chance that that guy could potentially be released not knowing what the catalyst was that caused him to do what he did,” he said. “It’s one of the most gruesome crime scenes that I’ve experienced in a long time. A tremendous amount of violence was involved in her death."
According to the arrest report, Henderson's 12 year old half brother was asleep at the time and woke to screams coming from the kitchen. He found Javarick covered with blood with cuts on his hand, and reported that Javarick said he "did something bad." The boy then said Javarick asked him not to call 911 until the morning as he "needed time to think."
Someone else though, evidently heard the screams as police responded to the residence around 3:40 in the morning.