Man charged in August murder

By Brian Reynolds (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Friday, June 27, 2008

NATCHEZ — A second man has been charged in the August 27 murder of Gregory Henderson.

Vernon Ray Isaac, 43, 110 Otis Redding Drive, was arrested by Natchez police Thursday. Isaac has been in the Adams County Jail since May on charges of possession of marijuana and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

“We’ve been working this case since the murder occurred and we developed some information to charge him along with the individual we already charged, which was Charles Rodgers Jr.,” Natchez Police Chief Mike Mullins said.

Sgt. Craig Godbold said he is glad the hard work of all the officers has paid off.

“We’ve had hours and hours of investigation and finally the proof is in,” he said.

The Natchez Police Department worked closely with the FBI and the Adams County Sheriff’s Office on the case, and Sheriff Ronny Brown said he is also excited the arrest has been made.

“Both our detectives and their detectives have been working on it and we’re just hoping to get it through the court system,” Brown said. “We appreciate being able to work together and accomplish a major arrest like this one.”

According to police, Henderson was murdered by Isaac and Rodgers when the two men went to buy marijuana from Henderson at 105 Jackson St. In the shooting that followed, Henderson was killed and David Smith, another resident of 105 Jackson St. was shot in the arm.

Rodgers was arrested on May 30 after being persuaded to return to Natchez from Dallas, Texas.

Mullins said that Isaac and Rodgers were probably the only two involved, but they are not ready to completely close the case.

“It’s possible that there could be another arrest but we don’t have evidence linking to another suspect at this point.”