North Carolina teen arrested for ‘slashing sister’

Kayla Hensley, 18, was found slashed to death near her home in Weaverville, North Carolina on Saturday. Her brother, who is underage, was arrested for her murder 

A juvenile boy has been arrested for allegedly slashing his 18-year-old older sister to death this weekend. 

A neighbor called police shortly before 9pm Saturday night, after a young man came to his door, covered in blood, saying someone had killed his sister.  

Cops interviewed the boy when they arrived on the scene, then found the body of 18-year-old Kayla Hensley, a senior in high school, near a dumpster at the entrance to the Weaverville, North Carolina mobile home park where the two live with their mother.

The cause of death was due to severe lacerations from a knife.  

Police took the brother – who has not been identified by name because he is a minor – into custody at the scene on suspicion of murdering his sister. 

He has since been charged with first-degree murder. 

Typically minors are named if they are charged with serious crimes like murder, but that doesn’t appear to have happened yet. 

That could change once the court decides whether to try the suspect as a minor or an adult.

 

Police were called to a mobile home park after a young man, who was covered in blood, told a neighbor that someone had killed his sister. They found Hensley's body near this dumpster 

Police were called to a mobile home park after a young man, who was covered in blood, told a neighbor that someone had killed his sister. They found Hensley’s body near this dumpster 

The suspect is currently being held at a juvenile hall. 

Cynthia Webb, a friend of the victim, told WYFF that the brother was quiet. 

‘Her brother, he didn’t talk much to people. He didn’t say much. He would say “Hey” and “Bye” – that was about it,’ Webb said. 

Neighbor Franklin Hughes told WLOS that he lived in a mobile home across from the family of three and had a disturbing memory of the first time he met the brother.  

‘When I first met [Hensley’s brother], he was coming out of the woods with a hatchet and I asked him what he was doing, and he wouldn’t talk to me, and he went home. 

Hensley's (left) brother has not been named because he is underage. But their mother, right, has posted pictures online with what appear to show her with her two children. DailyMail.com is obscuring the face of the male at center until the brother is officially identified 

Hensley’s (left) brother has not been named because he is underage. But their mother, right, has posted pictures online with what appear to show her with her two children. DailyMail.com is obscuring the face of the male at center until the brother is officially identified 

Above, another photo with Hensley, left, her mother, right, and what appears to be her brother

Above, another photo with Hensley, left, her mother, right, and what appears to be her brother

Hensley posted this picture to her Facebook in 2011, when she would have been 12 years old. Her mother, center, and what appears to be her brother, right, are also in the frame

Hensley posted this picture to her Facebook in 2011, when she would have been 12 years old. Her mother, center, and what appears to be her brother, right, are also in the frame

‘His mom come up and she talked to me, said “he just plays in the woods, cuts down trees, makes forts,” you know, that he was a good kid,’ Hughes said.  

Besides that startling incident, Hughes said that the brother ended up being very king to his kids.  

‘A lot of the kids up there are mean to my kids, except for him and a couple other ones. He was actually one of the nice kids to my kids. So, when all this came about, you know, it was kind of shocking,’ Hughes said. 

Those who knew Hensley’s mother said she was a good mother who worked two jobs to make ends meet. 

So far, Maltry has not spoken out to any news outlets about her daughter’s death and son’s subsequent arrest. But she did issue this statement: 

‘Kayla was the sweetest, most kind hearted, beautiful, strong, sassy girl ever. I know she will be missed by so many,’ she said.   

Public records show Maltry divorced a Mark David Hensley in 2003. 

After her death, friends and family set up a make-shift memorial on the back of Hensley's car 

After her death, friends and family set up a make-shift memorial on the back of Hensley’s car 

At night, a candle included in the memorial was lit in Hensley's honor 

At night, a candle included in the memorial was lit in Hensley’s honor 

Family, friends and co-workers had nothing but nice things to say about Hensley after news of her death broke this weekend. 

Hensley had a disability that impaired her hearing and her gait, but those close to her say she never let her handicap weigh her down. 

Boyfriend Charles Lyman teared up as he remembered his girlfriend in an interview with Fox Carolina. 

Lyman said he had been on the phone making plans with his girlfriend just hours before her death. 

‘She had her whole life ahead of her and was planning to go to college, making something of herself,’ Lyman said. 

Hensley left behind a boyfriend, 20-year-old Charles Lyman, right

Hensley left behind a boyfriend, 20-year-old Charles Lyman, right

Lyman teared up in an interview when he spoke about his murdered girlfriend 

Many who knew her wrote tributes on Facebook. 

‘R.I.P. I know the good lord has you in his arms. I’m going to miss you so much, now u can watch over me as I did for you while you were growing up. Love you, Kayla,’ her uncle, Roy Banks, wrote on Facebook.

‘I don’t normally do this but I seriously need my friends right now. Today I found out one of my best [friends] died. Her brother kill her. Her family [definitely] need prayers right now,’ a woman named Sierra Stroupe wrote.

Some of Hensley’s co-workers at the American Eagle Outfitters at the Asheville Mall said she was a great worker who had a way of cheering up everyone around her with her smile. 

‘Kayla was always smiling at work. Her smile could make even a bad day good. She was like a ray of sunshine,’ co-worker Misty Gossman said.

Co-workers said that they weren’t even aware that Hensley had a brother.  

Hensley’s boyfriend says she had an ambition to go to college. She was in her senior year of high school 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk