A man who was granted an early release from an Iowa prison allegedly kidnapped and murdered a 10-year-old girl less than four months later, The Associated Press (AP) reported Tuesday.
Henry Dinkins, 48, was released from a minimum-security residential facility in March 2020 after the Iowa Board of Parole determined Dinkins would be able to “fulfill the obligations of a law abiding citizen,” the AP reported.
The State granted Henry Dinkins an early release from prison less than four months before he allegedly kidnapped and killed 10-year-old Breasia Terrell last yearhttps://t.co/XSYfbTOdeV pic.twitter.com/Euc8PfjlCb
— Iowa’s News Now (@iowasnewsnow) May 18, 2021
Dinkins was awaiting trial at the time on felony charges, including possession of methamphetamine and amphetamine with intent to deliver, according to the AP. Dinkins was allegedly high on crack and crashed his car in Iowa while evading police in March 2019. Days later, he was arrested while allegedly in possession of more than 900 grams of meth and 200 grams of amphetamine in Illinois.
In July, Dinkins allegedly kidnapped 10-year-old Breasia Terrell, the half-sister of his son, shot her to death and then hid her body in a rural part of eastern Iowa.(RELATED: Mom Charged With Strangling 4-Year-Old Son, Police Say)
Ten-year-old Breasia Taylor went missing in July after a sleepover with her half-brother at his father’s home. Now the father, registered sex offender Henry Earl Dinkins, 47, has been charged with first-degree murder in her death. https://t.co/Clp7Oa56Q5
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) May 8, 2021
Investigators say the victim was staying overnight at an apartment where Dinkins was living with his girlfriend. The child’s body was identified in March after fishermen found what appeared to be human remains in Clinton County, Iowa, according to the AP.
He is reportedly a registered sex offender with a history of violent behavior.
Dinkins was charged days after the child’s disappearance with violating sex offender registry requirements. He had been convicted of third-degree sexual abuse of a child in 1990, and was arrested and cited numerous times following the conviction. The charges against Dinkins included assault while displaying a dangerous weapon, domestic violence and drug possession, among others, the AP reported.
In Breasia’s death, Dinkins is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping, according to the Des Moines Register.
Dinkins’ arrest in March 2019 was at least his fifth one for operating while intoxicated in the course of more than a decade. In previous years, Dinkins had crashed his car while on cocaine in 2014, and in a separate incident he caused an accident when he drove the wrong way while intoxicated, according to the AP.
Dinkins served 60 days in prison for the operating while intoxicated (OWI) charge after being sentenced to five years in prison and being prohibited from driving for six years, the AP reported. He was then transferred to a minimum-security facility where he completed a substance-abuse treatment program.
Although he was slated to complete his sentence in January 2022, a probation officer recommended he be released by early April 2020. He was ultimately released March 19, and appeared in an Illinois courtroom on July 8, two days before Breasia went missing, according to the AP.