HAWTHORNE — Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested a local woman Saturday night accused of stabbing her boyfriend to death.
Claudia Dallas, 52, is facing charges of first-degree murder and resisting arrest, according to an arrest report. As of Sunday night, she remained at the Alachua County Jail in lieu of a about $1.02 million bond.
Deputies responded to a call Saturday to find 64-year-old Roger Henderson lying near the front door with multiple stab wounds. They searched the house and found Dallas in a bedroom, sitting on a bed with her arms crossed. She ignored commands to surrender and was later arrested.
Officials pronounced Henderson dead at the house and found a bloodstained knife outside.
During an interview with the Sheriff’s Office, Dallas said she argued with Henderson about him having another girlfriend, and during the fight, she threw Henderson’s clothes out of his house.
Yvonne Albrecht, Henderson’s stepdaughter from Interlachen, said she went to his house around 8:30 a.m. to check on him and saw a pile of his clothes, shoes and medications scattered on the front yard. After no one answered the door, she went down the street to speak with Jettie Henderson, the victim’s 82-year-old mother.
“I told her I felt like something was wrong,” said Albrecht, 45.
Jettie Henderson said she went to her son’s house and called him several times after Albrecht’s visit. Later, after no word from him, she sent her husband, Carnell, and younger son, Oscar, to the house. They used a spare key to get into the house and found Henderson lying in a pool of blood, Oscar Henderson, 58, said.
His brother lay facing the couch with one of his arms slung over a cushion in a position that looked like he was trying to get up, he added. His body was stiff. His skin was cold.
“I turned to my father and told him he was already dead,” Oscar Henderson said.
Saturday’s arrest was not Dallas’ first run-in with the law. Since 2002, records show she’s been arrested for theft, battery and resisting arrest.
“I didn’t have a good feeling towards her,” Jettie Henderson said. “I tried to intervene up to a point, but he seemed to be in love with her.”
She described Henderson — a Vietnam War veteran — as a humble man who avoided confrontation and attended church almost every Sunday.
The day after her son’s death, sitting in her house surrounded by family members, Jettie Henderson said she hoped Dallas will be held responsible for the murder.
“She needs to be put away for life,” she said. “She doesn’t need to be out to harm other people.”
A version of this story ran on page 3 on 8/26/2013 under the headline "Man found murdered in Hawthorne"
