Sex offender charged with murder in death of Iowa girl, 10

IOWA CITY, Iowa — A registered sex offender has been charged with murder and kidnapping in the shooting death of a 10-year-old Iowa girl who went missing last summer, a prosecutor announced Wednesday.

Henry Dinkins is charged in the death of Breasia Terrell, a Davenport girl whose disappearance last July prompted an extensive search and investigation, Scott County Attorney Mike Walton said. Remains that were discovered in March in rural eastern Iowa were confirmed to be Breasia.

Dinkins had long been the only person that investigators had identified as a person of interest in the case. Breasia was last seen in the early hours of July 10 at a Davenport apartment complex, where she was staying the night with her half brother and his father, Dinkins.

Walton released few details at a brief news conference Wednesday. Reading a criminal complaint, he said that Dinkins removed her from the apartment without her consent and “shot her with a firearm causing her death.” If convicted on either count, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Dinkins, who was convicted of a sex crime in 1990 when he was 17, was charged days after Breasia’s disappearance with violating sex offender registry requirements by failing to update his address, and having contact with minors. He has been jailed while awaiting trial on those charges.