http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2003/11/11ky/met-front-murder1110-4213.html

Jury acquits man in fatal shooting
Defendant said he had acted in self-defense
By JASON RILEY
[email protected]
The Courier-Journal

Kelly O’Hara contended all along that he was acting in self-defense when
he shot and killed his girlfriend’s ex-husband during a struggle last
January.

Yesterday, a Jefferson Circuit Court jury acquitted him of a murder
charge in the death of Michael Henry – and refused to find him guilty
of any lesser crimes, including manslaughter or reckless homicide.

O’Hara, 40, turned and hugged his family after the verdict and sought
out his girlfriend, Susanna Crowe, Henry’s ex-wife.

“Kelly O’Hara saved my life,” Crowe said, trembling outside the
courtroom. “I wish nobody had to die, but my kids have a mother because
of him.”

O’Hara, who had faced a possible sentence of life in prison if
convicted, said he was glad the ordeal was over.

“I’m just sorry the whole thing happened,” he said. “I’m sorry for the
family’s loss.”

Members of Henry’s family – visibly shaken and angry – left the
court after one of them yelled at O’Hara.

Henry’s aunt, Sandra Henry, who shouted at O’Hara after the verdict,
said in an interview later that the jury’s decision was disgusting.

“It’s pretty sad that a man can pull a gun on an unarmed individual and
shoot him … and not be convicted of anything,” she said.

“He may not have to pay for it here, but he will have to answer to the
big man.”

According to defense attorney Grant Helman,
Henry, 31, went to Crowe’s house at 6505 Winter View Drive on Jan. 16,
and began screaming and banging on her door.

Crowe had filed for an emergency protection order against Henry the
previous October, but it had been dismissed.

O’Hara, according to testimony in the trial, was in Crowe’s home at the
time and went out the back door to leave, but found that Henry had
blocked in his vehicle.

Helman said O’Hara pulled his handgun to scare Henry away, firing a shot
into the ground.
But Henry charged O’Hara and the two struggled for the gun, with Henry
eventually being shot in the abdomen, Helman said.

“He (O’Hara) was in fear for his life,” Helman told the jury in his
closing statement. “This case is about self-protection.”

O’Hara and Crowe attempted CPR, but Henry died about an hour later.

Prosecutor Chris Foster argued that the situation turned deadly only
when O’Hara brought out the handgun.

And she said it was just as likely that Henry was pushing the gun away
during the struggle, rather than grabbing for it.

“O’Hara brought a gun to use against an unarmed man,” she told the jury.
“You can’t just shoot Michael Henry because he was acting ugly.”

Foster asked the jury to at least consider a conviction of reckless
homicide or second-degree manslaughter.

The jury deliberated about two hours before reaching its verdict.