Twenty-eight year old Kevin Lee Park, of Kenai, was indicted Wednesday by a Kenai grand jury for the murder of 31-year-old Stephanie Henson last Thursday.
The Alaska Department of Law said in a Tuesday press release that Park is being charged with four felony counts, including one count of murder in the first degree, two counts of murder in the second degree and one count of failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer.
Park was arrested last Thursday by the Kenai Police Department on charges of murder in the first degree, tampering with physical evidence and failing to stop at the direction of a peace officer. The arrest came after Kenai police officers responded to reports of a shooting in the area near California Avenue and First Street in Kenai.
According to charging documents, the Kenai Police Department received multiple reports at around 4 a.m. on Nov. 17 of gunshots in that area. One caller reported seeing a person shot in the road and the suspect trying to load them into a truck, according to a probable cause statement written by Kenai Police Department Investigations Sgt. Ryan Coleman.
As officers responded, one officer saw a vehicle that matched a description provided by one of the witnesses. The vehicle, driving away from the area on N Forest Drive without any lights on, led officers in a pursuit before ultimately stopping. It was then that Park, who was driving, was arrested, according to charging documents.
The same probable cause statement says that Park admitted during an interview with an investigator at Wildwood Pre-Trial Facility to shooting Henson in the roadway on California Avenue. Park further stated that he and Henson were “friends” and had spent the evening together, according to the statement.
Park told the same investigator that he had used meth the night of the shooting and that he attempted to transport Henson to the hospital after the shooting, but fled the scene when he was unable to load her into the truck, the statement says.
If convicted of the murder charges, Park faces a maximum 99 years in jail on each count. Additionally, he faces a maximum of five years in jail if convicted of the failure to stop charge.
Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.
