TUCSON, Ariz. -- The parents of the University of Arizona student who was beaten to death in Greece are hoping for a better outcome in their son's retrial.
Bakari Henderson was beaten to death outside of a Greece bar in 2017. This year, on Thanksgiving, 6 men were sentenced in his death for deadly assault. The charges were reduced from intentional homicide, which carries a life sentence in Greece. The 6 men - 5 Serbian nationals and a British man of Serbian origin, got sentences ranging from 5 to 15 years in prison.
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Jill Hendesron, Bakari's mom, says she thinks the evidence in court was clear and that she was surprised by the verdict last week. In court, the biggest piece of evidence was a video that shows Bakari being beaten to death on the streets. Henderson says the video was split up into segments, "so the jury could clearly see who did what at what moment."
But a few days after the 6 men were sentenced, a public prosecutor ordered a retrial. The re-trial will be done with a more senior panel of judges. The 6 men, as well as a 7th man from Greece, who was cleared last week, will now stand trial for murder.
RELATED: 6 sentenced in UA student Bakari Henderson's deadly beating in Greece
"Now we kind of have to re-live everything again."
After learning about the retrial, Henderson says, "we were surprised that it took place so quickly, so we were pleased with the outcome of that. So, hopefully this next go around will be more positive."
A date for the retrial has not been set yet, but Henderson says this will give more time to prepare for the next trial and get an outcome closer to what their family is hoping for. But she says it won't be easy. "It just makes it more complicated for us because now we kind of have to re-live everything again," she says.
Another difficult part of the trial, Henderson says is the fact that it's all in Greek. It's a foreign language for her family.
Henderson and her husband plan to travel back to Greece for the retrial.
I spoke to UA student Bakari Henderson’s mom this morning about the latest developments in his trial. He was beaten to death in Greece. You can hear what she’s hoping for tonight on @kgun9 at 6PM pic.twitter.com/k0B379RtrN
— Natalie Tarangioli (@ntarangioli) November 28, 2018
