It’s been almost four years since the body of a young woman from Valley Head was found in the Leesburg area of Cherokee County, but justice has finally come for Sarah Ortiz.
The body of the then 20 year old was discovered by fishermen in Weiss Lake on July 18th of 2014. She had been reported missing from DeKalb County on July 14th.
A resident of Cedar Bluff, Joseph Riley Henderson then age 17, was arrested on August 20th and charged with Capital Murder in the case.
According to the District Attorney’s Office Henderson was charged with Capital Murder due to the fact that Ortiz was killed during a robbery, although no additional information about any such incident was made available.
Henderson and Ortiz were reportedly acquaintances.
According to court documents, on Friday, April 6th, Riley Henderson – charged with Capital Murder – instead entered a plea of guilty to a lesser charge of Murder and was sentenced to a prison term of 20 years.
Henderson was ordered to pay $891.00 in court cost and given jail credit of 1,316 days served.
Cherokee County Circuit Judge Jeremy Taylor presided over the case.