However, Randy Henckel is convinced that his son, who has autism spectrum disorder, was manipulated into making incriminating statements and that someone else killed Dayvid.
Please help me. I did not do this, he quoted Andrew as telling his court-appointed attorney at their first meeting Wednesday morning.
Andrew Henckel, a 2016 graduate of Tivy High School in Kerrville, traveled to Washington state Oct. 9 to spread his wings after spending most of his life living with his parents here in the Hill Country.
It was meant to be a positive and enriching family experience, explained Randy Henckel, 55, noting Andrew had moved back home in May after two semesters at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
The family soothed Andrews fears about his first airplane flight by accompanying him to the gate in San Antonio, making arrangements with the carrier for an escort when he changed planes in Dallas, and having his sister meet him upon landing in Seattle.
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In an emergency situation, such as Dayvid choking, I dont know that Andrew would know how to handle it, said Randy Henckel, noting his daughter was not aware of Joes decision to leave Dayvid in Andrews care Monday afternoon.
Dayvids mother wasnt initially alarmed by his absence because he had a history of sneaking off, said Randy Henckel, who quoted her as telling him, Dayvids done one of his escape artist things again.
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He said Andrew told him he had fallen asleep while Dayvid was playing with Legos at the apartment Monday afternoon.
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Under any kind of duress, he just shuts down, said Randy Henckel, an employee of the Hill Country Telephone Cooperative who reported Andrew has whats called sensory integration disorder.
All of his senses hearing and sight and vision and touch are somewhat scrambled when they get to the brain, so he could never tolerate loud noises when he was small, like a vacuum, he said. It was very serious. It was life-affecting.
However, after being enrolled in occupational therapy through middle school, Andrew was mainstreamed into a standard curriculum at Tivy High School, where he played baritone in the marching band and completed all four years without being absent once.
