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12-03-2005, 06:28 AM
MANATEE - Derrick Ross Jr. cannot believe that the boy who used to stay over at his home and play with his son confessed to killing his family.
Richard Henderson Jr. grew up with Ross' son, Derrick Ross III, and attended the same grade school. Henderson called young Derrick his best friend.
Since Henderson confessed on Sunday to killing four family members on Thanksgiving Day, Derrick has not been able to watch the news, his father said.
"He is taking it hard. He was close to (Henderson's) parents," Ross said Thursday. "They thought my son was a good influence on him."
Most of Henderson's friends and relatives have said they knew that he was a troubled man. But they never thought he would confess to killing his own family.
The friend he knew
Sitting in jail, Henderson remembered his childhood friend.
Their parents would drive 15 miles between the Ross' residence on Verna Bethany Road and the Hendersons' near the Manatee/Hardee county line so the boys could hang out.
"He was kind of goofy," Ross said of Henderson when he was young.
During their teenage years, Ross began noticing changes in Henderson. Henderson's gothic attire and his choice of friends alarmed Ross.
"I thought he was kind of weird," Ross said. "I asked my son not to hang out with him."
Ross was aware of Henderson's marital problems with his wife, Brittany Wilde.
"He was mentally abusive," Wilde said. Wilde and Henderson have a 5-year-old daughter together.
Wilde remembered Henderson's substance abuse problems, streaks of animal cruelty and severe mood swings.
Henderson would throw toads up in the air and hit them with machetes as they fell to the ground, Wilde said.
At the time, she said Henderson had seen a psychiatrist for six months, and had even attempted suicide by taking a bunch of anti-depressants in the back of a van.
"He sat in the back and took them all," she said.
Prior to this suicide attempt, Wilde had filed a court order against Henderson, asking that Henderson be kept away from her and their daughter.
Henderson, who was convicted of bringing a firearm to school in 2001, had pleaded guilty to an assault charge after he threatened to slit Wilde's throat last year.
But Wilde withdrew the order, saying that they would try to work things out.
"When he didn't act like that, he was the most loving personality. He would do anything for anyone when he was not in a bad mood," Wilde said. "And he would make anyone laugh."
Mental illness a struggle
Henderson told The Herald in a jailhouse interview Thursday that he has struggled with bipolar disorder since he was 13.
The disorder indicates an imbalance of chemicals in the brain, said Paul Doering, a pharmacy professor at the University of Florida.
It causes a person to have alternating feelings of mania and depression, according to the Merck Manual of Medical Information.
Henderson was prescribed a medley of drugs, including antidepressants and tranquilizers, but that didn't quell his suicidal tendencies.
He told authorities that he had planned to kill himself on at least two occasions, and had attempted suicide at least once. Investigation reports revealed a man who repeatedly mutilated himself.
Henderson also admitted he could not keep his hands off recreational drugs.
"He had to (smoke marijuana) every day," Wilde said. "He would take 20 to 30 cold pills at a time because that doesn't come up in tests."
Henderson said he also dallied with cocaine, and seemed to favor a type of cold pill called coricidin HBP meant for those with high blood pressure.
Coricidin contains a cough suppressant ingredient, Doering said, that provides hallucinogenic qualities similar to LSD.
"It has a dissociative effect, where the body and mind separate from one another," Doering said.
For a person struggling with bipolar disorder, taking any sort of recreational drugs or attempts at self-medicating can have dismal outcomes.
"For someone with bipolar, when they are on the manic phase, it's like adding gasoline to fire," Doering said. "Sometimes people who had undiagnosed or inadequately treated mental disorders turn to other substances. Bipolar people really struggle with is the depressed phase of bipolar."
Cry for attention?
Henderson said he stopped taking medication prescribed for his manic depressive disorder when he was cut off from his parent's insurance policy.
Twenty tablets of coricidin at Walgreens costs $6.99, according to the pharmacy's Web site. Lithium, the common drug used to treat bipolar disorder, costs about $57.99 for 100 pills.
Doering said he didn't think being cut off from his parents' insurance was a good excuse to stop getting medication.
"There are social health programs that help people to get meds," Doering said. "People that have bipolar disease don't want treatment when they feel better in the up-phase."
Wilde thinks Henderson just wanted attention.
Were the homicides a way to get someone to notice him?
"It might be," Wilde said. "I think he did it just because he couldn't get his way. He would put holes in the wall if couldn't get his way."
Ross said he still has trouble understanding what Henderson said he did.
"Why can't he just kill himself and leave his family alone?" Ross said. "I can't believe a person could be so evil."
Doering said he does not think that Henderson's use of recreational drugs, nor his alleged disorder, should be taken that seriously.
"Across the country, thousands people could give you the same history," Doering said. "But those people haven't gone out to kill their father and mother and little brother and grandmother."
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/new...al/13306382.htm (http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/13306382.htm)
Richard Henderson Jr. grew up with Ross' son, Derrick Ross III, and attended the same grade school. Henderson called young Derrick his best friend.
Since Henderson confessed on Sunday to killing four family members on Thanksgiving Day, Derrick has not been able to watch the news, his father said.
"He is taking it hard. He was close to (Henderson's) parents," Ross said Thursday. "They thought my son was a good influence on him."
Most of Henderson's friends and relatives have said they knew that he was a troubled man. But they never thought he would confess to killing his own family.
The friend he knew
Sitting in jail, Henderson remembered his childhood friend.
Their parents would drive 15 miles between the Ross' residence on Verna Bethany Road and the Hendersons' near the Manatee/Hardee county line so the boys could hang out.
"He was kind of goofy," Ross said of Henderson when he was young.
During their teenage years, Ross began noticing changes in Henderson. Henderson's gothic attire and his choice of friends alarmed Ross.
"I thought he was kind of weird," Ross said. "I asked my son not to hang out with him."
Ross was aware of Henderson's marital problems with his wife, Brittany Wilde.
"He was mentally abusive," Wilde said. Wilde and Henderson have a 5-year-old daughter together.
Wilde remembered Henderson's substance abuse problems, streaks of animal cruelty and severe mood swings.
Henderson would throw toads up in the air and hit them with machetes as they fell to the ground, Wilde said.
At the time, she said Henderson had seen a psychiatrist for six months, and had even attempted suicide by taking a bunch of anti-depressants in the back of a van.
"He sat in the back and took them all," she said.
Prior to this suicide attempt, Wilde had filed a court order against Henderson, asking that Henderson be kept away from her and their daughter.
Henderson, who was convicted of bringing a firearm to school in 2001, had pleaded guilty to an assault charge after he threatened to slit Wilde's throat last year.
But Wilde withdrew the order, saying that they would try to work things out.
"When he didn't act like that, he was the most loving personality. He would do anything for anyone when he was not in a bad mood," Wilde said. "And he would make anyone laugh."
Mental illness a struggle
Henderson told The Herald in a jailhouse interview Thursday that he has struggled with bipolar disorder since he was 13.
The disorder indicates an imbalance of chemicals in the brain, said Paul Doering, a pharmacy professor at the University of Florida.
It causes a person to have alternating feelings of mania and depression, according to the Merck Manual of Medical Information.
Henderson was prescribed a medley of drugs, including antidepressants and tranquilizers, but that didn't quell his suicidal tendencies.
He told authorities that he had planned to kill himself on at least two occasions, and had attempted suicide at least once. Investigation reports revealed a man who repeatedly mutilated himself.
Henderson also admitted he could not keep his hands off recreational drugs.
"He had to (smoke marijuana) every day," Wilde said. "He would take 20 to 30 cold pills at a time because that doesn't come up in tests."
Henderson said he also dallied with cocaine, and seemed to favor a type of cold pill called coricidin HBP meant for those with high blood pressure.
Coricidin contains a cough suppressant ingredient, Doering said, that provides hallucinogenic qualities similar to LSD.
"It has a dissociative effect, where the body and mind separate from one another," Doering said.
For a person struggling with bipolar disorder, taking any sort of recreational drugs or attempts at self-medicating can have dismal outcomes.
"For someone with bipolar, when they are on the manic phase, it's like adding gasoline to fire," Doering said. "Sometimes people who had undiagnosed or inadequately treated mental disorders turn to other substances. Bipolar people really struggle with is the depressed phase of bipolar."
Cry for attention?
Henderson said he stopped taking medication prescribed for his manic depressive disorder when he was cut off from his parent's insurance policy.
Twenty tablets of coricidin at Walgreens costs $6.99, according to the pharmacy's Web site. Lithium, the common drug used to treat bipolar disorder, costs about $57.99 for 100 pills.
Doering said he didn't think being cut off from his parents' insurance was a good excuse to stop getting medication.
"There are social health programs that help people to get meds," Doering said. "People that have bipolar disease don't want treatment when they feel better in the up-phase."
Wilde thinks Henderson just wanted attention.
Were the homicides a way to get someone to notice him?
"It might be," Wilde said. "I think he did it just because he couldn't get his way. He would put holes in the wall if couldn't get his way."
Ross said he still has trouble understanding what Henderson said he did.
"Why can't he just kill himself and leave his family alone?" Ross said. "I can't believe a person could be so evil."
Doering said he does not think that Henderson's use of recreational drugs, nor his alleged disorder, should be taken that seriously.
"Across the country, thousands people could give you the same history," Doering said. "But those people haven't gone out to kill their father and mother and little brother and grandmother."
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/new...al/13306382.htm (http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/13306382.htm)