Gayle King interviews Phil and Jill Henderson, parents of Bakari Henderson.Photo: CBS Mornings
Bakari Henderson was only 22 when he visited the Greek island of Zakynthos in 2017 to take photos promoting his new clothing line.
“Bakari loved to travel, he loved meeting people,“CBS Morningsco-hostGayle Kingtells PEOPLE of the Texas native. “He didn’t meet a stranger.”
But on July 7, 2017, during a night out with friends in the village of Laganas, the recent college graduate’s trip came to an abrupt end when an angry mob chased him out of a bar andbeat him to death.
Bakari, whom loved ones previously told PEOPLE was “not a fighter,” reportedly hit back, but he was quickly outnumbered and chased down the street before they surrounded him.
The entire deadly incident was caught on surveillance video.
“His life was taken away in 30 seconds — in 30 seconds!” says King, who has made it a personal mission to keep his story on people’s minds over the past several years. “That just doesn’t make any sense to me. This kid who had always done all the right things.”
In the time since their 2017 conversation, the men accused of beating Bakariwent to trial in Greeceand were found not guilty of murder. The prosecutor then ordered a retrial on the same charges — a reportedly rare decision in Greece that would not be allowed in the U.S. court system due to double jeopardy laws preventing people from being prosecuted twice for the same crime.
The new murder trial has been delayed for more than two years.
With the retrial scheduled to finally begin on Feb. 21,King is sitting down with Phil and Jill againto discuss their long road to justice, which they define as seeing their son’s attackers convicted of murder.
“Their life is in limbo,” King says of the Hendersons. “Because they don’t have closure.”
While they’re “dreading” returning to court in Greece and nervous that the new trial will result in another devastating outcome, they haven’t let their state of limbo affect their ability to do good in the world.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Since meeting the Hendersons, King says she’s thought about Bakari’s case every day. She believes it hasn’t garnered the attention it deserves.
“I intend to wear it until they get justice in the case,” she says.
source: people.com
