ROSAMOND, Calif. (KERO) — Ronnetta Martin Henderson, a 27-year-old woman who lived in Rosamond, was last seen by her loved ones on August 1st. According to her family, when they realized she didn’t have her regular medication, and then missed an appointment to look for an apartment with her mother, they knew something was wrong.
The family sprung into action and started trying to piece together her disappearance.
“We knew from the beginning that she was not gone voluntarily, and we expressed that to the sheriff’s department,” said Henderson’s sister in law Alyssa. “It was KCSO who was handling it at that time, they said there wasn’t really any evidence of foul play, that they need more evidence before they could pursue this as something that was foul play.”
The family spent two weeks searching for Henderson, then, on August 15th, deputies recovered her body on Sierra Highway near Backus Road between Mojave and Rosamond at around 8:30 am.
Alyssa says that when the family learned how she was found, it brought up more questions than answers.
“It was a small piece of closure, that, okay, she’s not out there scared somewhere, wondering if somebody was looking for her, but also how does the family move forward from here,” said Alyssa. "There’s so many moving pieces. And who would want to do something like this to her?”
Ronnetta was the type of person everyone knew they could rely on, according to her sister in law.
“She is a sister, a mother, all the things you described as a friend,” said Alyssa. “The support from her friends has been incredible, and that just goes to show the type of person that she was. She was really caring, showed up for people.”
Henderson leaves behind friends and family, and two children who meant the world to her.
“She had two young children, they are both in elementary school, that she was responsible for and that love her dearly,” Alyssa told 23ABC. “They are obsessed with their mom. Even when they’re doing something fun, they want to get back to their mom.”
Henderson also suffered from medical issues in recent years.
"She was recently diagnosed with lupus, and because of complications with that, she developed an illness called valley fever," said Alyssa. "Which I'm told is a pretty rare thing to come down with."
One complication that came from her valley fever diagnosis was an infection around her brain that required surgery and daily medication, so when she was missing for a week, the family knew the outcome would not be ideal.
"Over two weeks we had already been looking for her, and like I said before, she was reliant on life-dependent daily medication," said Alyssa. "So even if someone had not harmed her, the chances that we would find her in a recoverable state we assumed to be very low, because she needed that medication."
Jahquan Davenport, 26, Jaysean Davenport, 18, and Antone Unique James, 18, were arrested. All three are charged with first degree murder and property arson charges. Antone James and Jahquan Davenport have their preliminary hearings on Wednesday, September 14th. Jaysean Davenport’s preliminary hearing will be on Friday, September 16th.
Alyssa says it is a bittersweet moment to learn that arrests have been made and suspects are in custody in the case of her sister’s death.
“Obviously, we would prefer that she were here,” said Alyssa. “It’s been some quiet celebrations or some small victories in bringing who may be involved and who may have performed this act, bringing them to answer for their actions, but at the end of the day, that won’t bring her back.”
She also says she doesn’t know what kind of dealings Henderson may have had with the suspects or what would make them do this to her sister. She advises everyone to advocate for their loved ones if they know that something isn’t right.
“If you know that something is not right with one of your family members, continue to fight for that, because if we had not continued to fight for that, this may have just been another cold case or case that sat on somebody’s desk.”
While Henderson’s identity was confirmed through a DNA match with her mother, her family says the Kern County Coroner’s Office is still investigating and has yet to make a formal identification. The family hopes to lay Ronnetta to rest by the beginning of October.
