Cheyenne Shooting Suspect Makes Initial Court Appearance
A 25-year-old Cheyenne transient suspected of killing a man and wounding a woman during a May 11 shooting in south Cheyenne has been charged with six felonies stemming from the incident.
Frank McHenry made his initial appearance in Laramie County Circuit Court this (Friday) afternoon on seven charges, including two counts of aggravated burglary-deadly weapon, four counts of interference with a peace officer-injury and misdemeanor property destruction.
Charging documents allege McHenry broke into a home at 609 Pontillo Drive and stole a .22 caliber pistol. He's also accused of breaking in the front door of a relative's home at 523 Pontillo Drive and stealing an AR-15.
McHenry is then believed to have fired the stolen AR-15 at 33-year-old Kristen Smith and 61-year-old Joseph Steven Tortolito, two Cheyenne residents who were working in the area.
Laramie County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Capt. Linda Gesell says Smith, who reported the shooting, was "grazed in the hip area" and Tortolito died from "multiple" gunshot wounds.
"It appears that these folks were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Gesell.
"We are assuming by his (McHenry's) actions that he was under the influence of something," she added. "We do not have the toxicology back from the hospital yet."
Gesell says McHenry was arrested after he "came running out of a home dressed in a towel" and attempted to flee from deputies.
"When he was brought here to the sheriff's department to await being interviewed, that is when he stepped on a chair in one of our detective interview rooms and proceeded to tear the ceiling down and grab a heat vent and attack some deputies with that," said Gesell.
Court records allege McHenry also tried to bite a deputy and kicked two other deputies.
Judge Denise Nau set McHenry's bond at $100,000 cash and set his preliminary hearing for May 25 at 10 a.m. She also told the state, who asked that McHenry be sent to the state hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, that she would sign the paperwork.
District Attorney Jeremiah Sandburg says his office plans to file additional charges in the case as soon as the sheriff's office wraps up their investigation.