Man accused of kidnapping, assault of 80-year-old woman held without bail

WARWICK, R.I. (WLNE) — A 53-year-old man is facing multiple charges in three different communities for a string of alleged crimes leading from Rhode Island, all the way to Ohio.

Steven Henning was charged with kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon in a dwelling, first degree robbery, assault on a person over 60-serious bodily injury and burglary and larceny of a motor vehicle in Coventry.

Henning will face his other charges from Woonsocket and Providence later this week.

Henning, who appeared in court today, was held without bail.

According to prosecutors, the situation began in Ohio several weeks ago when Henning allegedly assaulted his girlfriend and fled the state with a stolen vehicle from a relative.

Henning then abandoned the car in Woonsocket and contacted a woman he met on a dating site who he stayed with.

The woman then dropped him off at a bar, and then Henning went to a service station in an attempt to steal another car.

Henning was still hoping to go back to Ohio.

“He took that blue impala, and from his statements he was going to return to Ohio to murder his girlfriend,” stated the prosecution.

Prosecutors said Henning had an idea to steal another car so it “wouldn’t be reported stolen,” and decided the stolen car would have to be from “someone he’d murder.”

Henning came across an 80-year-old Coventry woman, who he struck up a conversation with.

He allegedly followed her home, left the stolen car a few blocks away, and knocked on the back door, asking for money.

Henning allegedly choked her in the house demanding jewelry and money, and then placed the woman in her car and drove her around for some time.

Henning would eventually take her into the woods in Smithfield.

“And without saying a word, put a belt around her neck and tightened it to the point where she became unconscious and he believed – from his statements – that she was dead,” the prosecution stated.

Henning appears in Kent County Superior Court, August 19. (WLNE)

He stayed with a friend overnight in Providence, allegedly planning to return to bury her.

The 80-year-old woman, according to prosecutors, did wake up and knocked on doors asking for help.

“Not knowing that she had regained consciousness the following morning and went to a road, knocked on doors until she found somebody to help her and she was brought to Rhode Island Hospital where she remains. Her injuries are significant,” stated the prosecution.

Henning returned to the woods the next day and was spotted after getting a tip from police.

He was eventually found and arrested at the home of the woman he met on the dating site in Providence after engaging in a high speed chase with authorities. 

Bob Adams, the owner of the house where the man was found, said the man had begun dating his mother over the past week.

“So I came out my front door and I just wanted to see what was happening, I’m getting told to put my hands up, so I did, I complied, and it turns out that this guy who my mom had been seeing for literally just under a week snuck into my basement and I don’t know the rest of the details right now, but it’s very jarring,” he said. “I literally just met him two days ago.”