Whitney Henriquez: who is Amber Heard’s sister, testimony in Johnny Depp trial, age and husband - explained

Amber Heard’s younger sister Whitney has taken to the stand (18 May) to share her account of the domestic abuse allegations against Johnny Depp.

Depp began a defamation trial against his former wife on 11 April after she wrote an article in The Washington Post where she described her experience of domestic abuse.

Although Depp was not named in the piece, he is attempting to sue Heard $50 million in a libel case in Fairfax, Virginia.

Heard’s sister Whitney Henriquez who was present during many of the alleged incidents has given her side of the story. Depp denies all the allegations of assault.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Who is Amber Heard’s sister Whitney?

Whitney Henriquez is Amber Heard’s youngest sister.

The 34-year-old former actress and model was born in Austin, Texas.

In 2007, she played the role of Ugna in Homo Erectus, but left the acting industry to go into hospitality.

Whitney is married to Gavin Henriquez and the pair have two children together.

She is very close with her sister, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter Heard described Whitney as “my best friend, she’s my partner in crime”.

Whitney even lived with her sister Amber during the beginning of her relationship with Depp.

What was said in court?

Whitney is the first witness to state under oath that she saw Depp strike Heard.

The sister lived in the same apartment complex as the couple and under cross-examination admitted she sometimes acted like the pair’s “marriage counsellor”.

Here are the key things to take away from Whitney’s court testimony:

Whitney claims the beginning of the relationship was good

She reflected that the beginning of the relationship had been a happy one, saying she had never “seen my sister fall so madly for somebody”.

She added: “They seem to really understand each other and get along well. But very quickly this pattern emerged as their relationship went on, that if Johnny was using, there almost always was a fight.”

The incident on the stairs

Recalling an argument that took place after the pair had got married, Whitney said that Depp had raced up a staircase and hit her in the back.

She stated that Heard had retaliated, explaining: “I hear Amber shout, ‘Don’t hit my fucking sister!’ She smacks him — lands one.”

She then testified that Depp grabbed Heard “by the hair with one hand and was whacking her repeatedly in the face with the other.”

On Depp’s sobriety

Reflecting on Depp’s sobriety she testified that “if he was using or if he was drinking, there was almost always a fight.”

She added: “He would be sober for a little bit and then almost just as quickly fall off the wagon and start to use or drink and there’d be some big blowout and it seemed to go back and forth pretty frequently.”

Depp’s legal team objected to Whitney’s choice of the word “using.”

The Heard’s grew up with abuse in their household

Depp’s lawyers cross-examined Whitney and asked her if they had ever been hit as children.

She explained that her father would hit both sisters.

When asked if Amber ever protected her from this abuse she said: “We would protect each other for sure.”

Who else took the stand?

Two other witnesses for Heard took the stand on Wednesday.

The first was her former make-up artist, Melanie Inglessis, who testified to covering up Heard’s bruises.

Inglessis explained that she had to cover up injuries on Heard’s face for her appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden in December 2015.

Inglessis said: "We covered the discolouration, the bruises, with slightly heavier concealer."

The second witness was Raquel Pennington, who described herself as both a friend of Depp and Heard and had formerly lived in Depp’s Los Angeles penthouse.

Pennington, who is no longer close with the pair, expressed her concerns about the relationship.

She said: "In the beginning [of the relationship], I wasn’t worried.

"Towards the end when the physical abuse was more evident, I was worried. I was worried for her physical safety.

"I was worried that when he turned, he might actually do something that was worse than he ever intended."

When will the Depp vs Heard trial end?

The Depp vs Heard trial is set to finish on 27 May.

It will then be up to the jury to deliver the final verdict after they have deliberated.