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Always flush.

That’s one of the lessons learned by bank robber Jerry Lekeith Henderson, 37, and his newfound girlfriend and alleged accomplice, Latoya Christine Heath, 25.

When Heath entered the EVB Bank on West Broad Street in Henrico County on Dec. 27, she asked to use the restroom upstairs. Tellers are accustomed to hearing the sound of rushing water from the plumbing with each flush.

But all was silent when Heath made her way back downstairs a bit too quickly, and the bank staff immediately was suspicious. They were keenly aware of a series of Richmond bank robberies earlier that month by a male and female.

Henrico prosecutor David Giroux on Thursday told the toilet story in court as a prelude to a guilty plea and sentencing that generated an 18-year prison term for Henderson in the EVB case.

“This was a case of great police work and observant bank tellers,” Giroux said later. Heath didn’t need to use the restroom; she was casing out the bank for bulletproof glass and guards, she later told investigators.