More than 30 years after an assailant raped and murdered Cheryl Henry and killed her boyfriend Andy Atkinson, prosecutors announced charges in the 1990 cold case.
DNA from old razors solves 41-year-old cold case
More than 40 years later, DNA evidence has linked the unsolved rape and murder of two California women to a man who died in prison.
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Cheryl Henry and Andy Atkinson had been dating for a few weeks when they spent some time alone together on Houston’s popular Lovers Lane.
But the predator had other plans for them. He attacked Henry and Atkinson and marched them into the woods. He tied up Atkinson and slashed his throat. He rapes Henry and cuts his throat, leaving the young couple to die.
More than 35 years later, investigators have arrested a man in connection with the Lover’s Lane murders that shocked Houston and became the Bay Area Police Department’s most infamous cold case.
Floyd William Parrott, 64, is charged with two counts of secret murder in the deaths of Andy Atkinson, 21, and Cheryl Henry, 22. He appeared in court in Nebraska on Thursday, March 26, the day after authorities there arrested him. Houston prosecutors are seeking his extradition to Texas.
USA TODAY is working to identify an attorney to represent Parrott.
“One of Houston’s most haunting and infamous cold cases has weighed heavily on the Henry and Atkinson families and our community for more than 30 years,” District Attorney Sean Teare said in a statement Thursday. “Today is a good day.”
Here’s what you need to know about the Lover’s Lane Murders and what led police to arrest Parrott all these years later.
What happened to Cheryl Henry and Andy Atkinson?
On August 22, 1990, 22-year-old Cheryl Henry and 21-year-old Andy Atkinson were on a date at a nightclub called Bayou Mama’s.
Investigators believe the young couple then drove to an isolated cul-de-sac known as Lover’s Lane. Then the murderer took action.
“This is a terrible Hollywood movie,” Houston homicide detective Michael Miller told the Houston Chronicle in 2008. “Someone approached them, tied them up and marched them into the forest. They knew they were going to die.”
The next day, a security guard on routine patrol found Mr Atkinson’s empty car in a cul-de-sac, with Mr Henry’s wallet on the passenger floorboard and the keys still in the ignition. The young couple’s family was in a panic.
Police soon discovered Henry’s naked body hidden under a wooden plank in the nearby woods. Her hands were tied behind her back, she was raped, and her throat was cut. The next day, police found Atkinson’s body about 150 yards away. He had been tied to a tree and had his throat cut.
Atkinson’s grandmother, Jean Averitt, told the Chronicle the week of the killing that her grandson’s violent death was the worst thing she had ever experienced.
“I just want justice,” she told the newspaper. “I don’t want the same thing to happen to other young people.”
What led to Floyd William Parrott’s arrest?
Floyd William Parrott was arrested Wednesday in Lincoln, Nebraska, based on a tip from police and DNA evidence, according to a criminal complaint obtained by USA TODAY.
The complaint says it’s unclear when the information about Parrott came in, but detectives discovered it last year while investigating a cold case from 35 years ago.
As he researched the information, investigators identified Sgt. In his complaint, Mr. Barrow discussed a 1996 sexual assault incident involving Mr. Parrott. Vallow said the man’s DNA from the 1996 incident was only recently submitted to the national sexual assault database known as CODIS and found it was a “case-to-case match” to DNA collected from Cheryl Henry’s body in 1990, the complaint states.
In the 1996 lawsuit, Parrott “admitted to the sexual contact,” although he claimed it was consensual, according to the complaint.
Barrow found that at the time Henry and Atkinson were murdered, Parrott lived within a mile of the murder scene. He also found that Mr Parrott had been arrested twice in 1988. The first charge was for impersonating a police officer, and the second charge was for possession of a weapon for possessing a blue steel revolver.
Police said during an interview with detectives Wednesday, Parrott denied knowing Henry. No other details were disclosed in the interview.
In the decades since the case was solved, prosecutors, Houston police and the FBI have been “relentless and persistent in pursuing this investigation,” said District Attorney Sean Teare.
“They have worked on hundreds of leads and faced dead ends and a lot of frustration,” he said. “But they never gave up on Cheryl and Andy. Thank you to all the investigators who worked on this case. Your perseverance brought two families what they have deserved for many years: progress and hope.”
What is happening now?
Floyd William Parrott will have further court hearings in Nebraska before being extradited to Houston, where he will stand trial on murder charges.
Parrott is currently being held in the Lancaster County Jail without bail.
Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter covering cold case investigations and capital punishment for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.
