A judge sentenced him Wednesday to spend life in prison with the possibility of parole after 21 years.
Winbush and his accomplice, then-17-year-old Raymond Zimmerman killed Zimmerman's uncle, 59-year-old William Henson in his Haddix Road home on Jan. 14 of 2015, prosecutors said.
“This was a purposeful killing,” said Clark County Assistant Prosecutor Dan Driscoll during the sentencing hearing Wednesday. “The actions of those individuals on that night were meant to kill William Henson.”
The teens went to Henson’s rural home with the intent to steal guns, prosecutors said. The crime turned deadly and Henson was found beaten and shot twice in the head, Driscoll said.
“The fact is that the only thing they could do to stop from being caught is to kill Mr. Henson,” the prosecutor told Judge Richard O’Neill.
After the murder, Winbush and Zimmerman stole more than 30 guns from the victim’s extensive collection and were in the process of selling them when they were arrested by deputies.
Winbush faced a possible maximum sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 33 years.
Henson’s family told the judge about the pain of this crime.
“This has been a hard time for me and my family,” family member Greg Baca said. “I would like to ask for Robert to get the maximum time responsible.”
Winbush took the opportunity in court to apologize to Henson’s family.
“I just want to say I’m so sorry for everyone and everything,” Winbush said.
But the teen also told a judge he didn’t plan to kill the man.
“I had no idea and if I would have known anything I wouldn’t have went that day,” Winbush said.
In May, Zimmerman was sentenced to life in prison after he accepted a plea agreement to charges of murder for his part in the case. He will be eligible for parole after 18 years, according to court records.
The fact the teens originally went to Henson’s home with the intent to steal his guns and sell them illegally highlights the problem of gun violence in the community, Clark County Prosecutor Andy Wilson said.
“They stole over 30 guns that their plan was to put back into the community,” Wilson said. “And those guns go back out on streets illegally and those are the guns that are constantly used in our murders and our violent crimes that we deal with day to day here.”
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