Wednesday, March 5, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Seated in a wheelchair, paralyzed from a bullet that pierced her spine, 24-year-old Rhoda Mills was a different person than two years ago when she used a knife in a jealous rage to end a love triangle.
The shooting, which occurred a year after the August 1995 stabbing incident, took the life of Mills' unborn child.
The shooter is alleged to be the man who was the object of the love triangle melee and the father of the unborn baby. Criminal charges against William Henry are pending.
Tuesday was Mills' time to deal with the slaying of 21-year-old Kanna White, who bled to death after the parking lot fracas.
Mills calmly pleaded guilty to a charge of voluntary manslaughter with the use of a deadly weapon in the plea bargain that will give her a chance at probation when she is sentenced May 8 by District Judge Jeff Sobel.
She faces the possibility of a 20-year sentence, but had she been convicted of first-degree murder, she could have been sentenced to prison for life.
Sobel commented that he didn't believe she would have been convicted by a jury of first-degree murder but likely would have been found guilty of second-degree murder.
White was stabbed in the stomach when Mills lashed out with a butcher knife around their mutual boyfriend as he attempted to keep the women apart.
Deputy District Attorney Robert Langford said an artery was severed, and White bled to death as employees and customers at a nearby auto dealership looked on.
Mills had been trailing the car carrying White and Henry as they drove along East Sahara Avenue about 8:20 a.m. on Aug. 16, 1995.
Authorities said Henry was intimately involved with both women. He told Mills that he visited White only because she was the mother of his child and there was no relationship. He told White that Mills was just a friend.
When the car carrying White and Henry stopped in front of Signature Lincoln-Mercury at 3030 E. Sahara, Mills also stopped and the ensuing argument escalated into a rock-throwing fight between the women.
Mills, police said, grabbed a butcher knife from her vehicle and flattened a tire on White's car. In retaliation, White kicked out the passenger window of Mills' car.
When the women squared off, Henry's attempts to keep them separated failed. After the stabbing, White was taken to University Medical Center, where she died.
At the time, Mills was two months pregnant with Henry's child, who turns 1 year old on Saturday.
With White dead, Mills -- who was free on bail -- and Henry continued their relationship. Two or three months after the birth of their daughter, Mills again became pregnant but on Sept. 9, the relationship again became violent.
She was shot four times and lost both the child and the use of her legs.
"It's a tragic case all around," said Mills' attorney, Deputy State Public Defender Lee Elizabeth McMahon.
Because Henry was the state's star witness in the White slaying, the shooting charges against him are being pursued by Special Prosecutor Roy Woofter, a former Clark County district attorney.
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