Blood Feud in Little Rock- Arrest Made in Six-Year old's Murder-Convicted CRIP Gang Kingpin's Cousin Charged in Brutal Slaying

LR man charged in 6-year-old’s fatal shooting

By Jacob Quinn Sanders

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

LITTLE ROCK — Bullet holes still scar the Little Rock house where 50 gunshots crashed into a children’s bedroom last month and killed 6-year-old Kamya Weathersby.

But with a capital murder charge filed in the case Tuesday against an 18-year-old already accused of committing another homicide in what police have called a blood feud between families, there is hope that in time other, deeper scars will fade, police and a prominent Little Rock pastor said.

Kevin Banks was charged with capital murder and committing a terroristic act in connection with the girl’s death. He was being held without bail Tuesday night at the Pulaski County jail.

Banks was almost immediately considered a suspect after dozens of gunshots slammed into the front of the house at 2715 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive early Dec. 29, police said. In remarks made at the time, Little Rock police said Kamya and her 4-year-old sister, Jasirae Vick, were deliberate targets of multiple gunmen, simply for being members of the wrong extended family.

Wearing Pulaski County jailissue blue pants and a matching V-neck top and orange open-toe jail slippers, Banks was led into a Little Rock police patrol car Tuesday evening after an interview with detectives. A television reporter shoved a microphone in his face and asked if he killed Kamya.

“No, sir, I did not, sir,” Bankssaid.

During a youth revival Tuesday night at the Temple of Restoration Church of God in Christ, deep in south Little Rock, the Rev. Benny Johnson sat near seven lit candles - one for each year of Kamya’s life and a seventh in prayer for the capture of the people responsible for the shooting.

“If this is the person who did this crime, this can be the beginning of a healing,” he said.

Banks was arrested Jan. 2 and charged with first-degree murder in the Dec. 20 shooting death of Brent Pettus, 25, of Little Rock.Banks had been in custody since his earlier arrest.

Police said they continued their investigation and their hunt for information implicating more people.

Sgt. James Lesher, who supervises the Little Rock Police Department’s homicide unit, said he could not release specific information about how Banks became a suspect or how detective Tommy Hudson built the case against the teenager. He said he would take the unusual step of asking the Pulaski County District Court to seal Hudson’s arrest-warrant affidavit, a normally public document that outlines the case against the suspect.

“Frankly, this is real delicate,”Lesher said. “This is a case that’s got to be treated gently if we’re going to get the outcome we want. There’s still more people out there who were involved in this, so we have to be real careful in telling what we know.”

At the house where Kamya died, on a narrow residential section of King Drive, stuffed animals still lay in the front yard Tuesday night. Bullet holes pockmarked the wooden siding and a window. Trees framing the walkway and the front door bore fliers with her picture, the offer of reward money and a phone number for police.

It was dark. And quiet. No one was home.

Lesher said police likely could have charged Banks sooner butwanted to collect more information to build their case.

The founder of Little Rock’s Stop the Violence Inc., Johnson handed out fliers on New Year’s Day at Roosevelt Road and King Drive - a few blocks from the shooting - and has opened a Bank of America account in Kamya’s name to offer at least $3,000 in reward money for information on the case. He said he had no problem with police waiting to charge Banks.

“Better safe than sorry,” Johnson said.

Banks is the younger cousin of Little Rock gang leader Bobby Banks, who is serving the second year of a 55-year federal sentence for drug trafficking.