COVINGTON, Ga. — The Covington man was in jail for not paying child support and faced spending Christmas there.
Jessie Henderson convinced a judge not to keep him locked up after his sentence ended in a few days because of some fines he owed.
However, a few weeks later, Henderson was charged with allegedly carjacking a man near downtown Monroe on Jan. 9.
Henderson, the son of Newton County Commissioner J.C. Henderson, asked Superior Court Judge Layla Zon during a hearing on a probation violation charge Dec. 21 if he could be allowed to go home to spend the holidays with his family, said Assistant District Attorney Griffin Bell.
Bell said Jessie Henderson told the court his time in custody on a child support charge was ending in a few days. A new charge of criminal trespass in early December also had been withdrawn, he said.
Zon agreed not to keep him in jail for late payment of the fines after his time was served on the child support charge, Bell said.
He was required to stay out of trouble, take his prescribed medications, and work to pay down the $3,600 in fines he owed, Bell said.
Zon then ordered him to return to court for a Probation Review hearing Feb. 25, Bell said.
On the night of Jan. 9, Jessie Henderson, 27, allegedly pulled a man from his SUV in a Monroe grocery store parking lot and drove off in the vehicle before crashing it into a tree.
Charges related to the incident include hijacking a motor vehicle, aggravated assault, kidnapping and criminal attempt to enter an automobile.
The Georgia State Patrol also accused him of driving under the influence, hit-and-run, driving without a seatbelt, failure to maintain lane and driving with a suspended license, The Walton Tribune newspaper reported.
Jessie Henderson also is no stranger to the local court system.
He pleaded guilty to a burglary charge in Newton County in 2014, received first-offender status and was placed on 10 years' probation.
In May 2018, he pleaded guilty to charges related to breaking the phone of the mother of his 1-year-old child as she tried to call 911 during an argument, and then hitting her car with a rock.
