Henry Kidd Jr., 43, admitted giving 43-year-old Darrell Scott the gun he used to kill Kendra DeGrasse and driving him to the murder scene.
Henry Kidd TRENTON — A Trenton man was sentenced to 10 years in prison yesterday for his role in a March 2005 retaliation killing.
Henry Kidd Jr., 43, admitted giving 43-year-old Darrell Scott the gun he used to kill Kendra DeGrasse and driving him to the murder scene. Scott shot DeGrasse three times in the head for testifying against his cousin Anthony Kidd, who is Henry Kidd’s brother.
“Henry Kidd was actually the one who facilitated this,” Assistant Prosecutor Michael Borgos said.
Anthony Kidd admitted using a contraband cell phone from state prison to call his cousin and brother in for the hit on the 33-year-old mother of two.
He was serving 35 years for shooting a police officer in 2001, thanks in part to testimony given by DeGrasse. He allegedly called for her death to eliminate her as a witness in a new trial regarding that case that was approaching in 2005.
If the appeal were to have been successful, Anthony Kidd could have gotten a lesser sentence.
“Henry, how do you feel knowing you gave the gun to the animal that killed my daughter?” DeGrasse’s mother, Carlotta DeGrasse, said in court today.
“You helped take a mother away from her children,” DeGrasse said. “You can tell your mom you love her, my grandchildren can’t.”
Prosecutors said the murder could never have happened without Henry Kidd’s involvement.
“This would not have been possible if it wasn’t for his part in this,” Borgos said.
Prosecutors have said that on the night of her murder, Anthony Kidd told DeGrasse to go to Spring Street to meet with someone who would give her money for him. But after driving around Spring Street without seeing anyone, DeGrasse parked on White Street and called her sister to say she couldn’t find the person.
DeGrasse was found shot to death in her SUV on White Street, prosecutors have said.
Under the No Early Release Act, Kidd must serve 8½ years before he is eligible for parole, Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson said.
Kidd has 44 prior arrests and 21 convictions, Smithson said. He has spent much of his adult life in prison.
“I think he has no desire at all to abide by the rule of the law,” Smithson said. “His record is horrendous. It’s about as bad as I’ve ever seen.”
Scott, who drove to Trenton from Alabama to kill DeGrasse, was sentenced last month to 29 years in state prison for aggravated manslaughter.
Anthony Kidd, 41, also was sentenced last month to 29 years for his role in the slaying, which will be added to the 20 remaining on his previous sentence.
Kidd declined an opportunity to speak during the sentence, but his attorney Andrew Duclair said outside the courtroom that the sentence was fair.
“My client is satisfied,” Duclair said.
Contact Alyssa Mease at amease@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5673.
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