Man arrested in connection with Kenai killing

Published 10:30 pm Wednesday, November 16, 2022

A 28-year-old Kenai man has been arrested on a murder charge following the death of a woman whose body was found in Kenai on Thursday morning.

The Kenai Police Department at around 4 a.m. on Nov. 17 received a report of a shooting on California Street, with witnesses also reporting seeing a vehicle leaving the scene, according to a Thursday Kenai police dispatch. As officers responded, police reported, they encountered a vehicle matching descriptions that was leaving the area with no lights on.

An attempted traffic stop on the vehicle by Kenai police officers escalated into a pursuit, the dispatch said. Alaska State Troopers and the Soldotna Police Department assisted in the pursuit.

Police eventually stopped and took into custody 28-year-old Kevin Lee Park of Kenai in connection with the incident, police said.

As of around 11:45 a.m. Thursday, the Kenai Police Department was still working to identify the deceased female victim, who was located on California Street. The woman was eventually identified as 31-year-old Stephanie Henson, also of Kenai.

Park was taken to Wildwood Pre-Trial Facility on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree tampering with physical evidence and first-degree failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer.

The case is still under investigation.

Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/peninsulaclarion.