Alabama man guilty of killing pregnant wife, full-term baby, three others

Published 10:44 pm Thursday, July 1, 2021

A jury on Thursday found a north Alabama man guilty of killing his pregnant wife and her family in 2015.

Jurors deliberated for nearly two days before finding Christopher Henderson guilty of multiple counts of capital murder, news outlets reported.

Kristin Smallwood Henderson was nine months pregnant with Henderson’s child at the time of the killings. Her 8-year-old son, Clayton Chambers, her mother, Jean Smallwood, and her 1-year-old nephew, Eli Sokolowski, were also killed.

The full-term fetus, who was to be named Loryn Brooke Smallwood, was cut from the womb and stabbed, according to court testimony.

The Huntsville-area house was engulfed in flames with the victims’ bodies inside when authorities arrived. Christopher Henderson was also found guilty on burglary and arson changes.

Christopher Henderson’s first wife, Rhonda Carlson, testified last week that he planned and orchestrated the killings. Carlson took a plea deal to avoid a possible death sentence.