In the early morning hours of November 23, 2015, the life of 20-year-old D'Andre Mayfield, a Black male, was tragically cut short in Denver, Colorado. Responding to a report of shots fired, police discovered Mayfield inside a vehicle on the 4700 block of Peoria Street. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries shortly after arrival.
The Denver coroner's office would later confirm that a gunshot wound was the cause of death.
The investigation into the shooting quickly pointed to a suspect: 20-year-old Kenneth Banks. Authorities warned that Banks should be considered armed and dangerous as they began their search. The case grew more complex when Banks was also named as a suspect in a double shooting that occurred just days earlier outside the Montview Bar & Grill in Aurora, which resulted in the death of a woman. The string of violent crimes was believed to be gang-related.
After months on the run, Kenneth Banks was apprehended in Sacramento, California, in mid-2016. During an interview with detectives, Banks confessed to the murder of D'Andre Mayfield. He also admitted his involvement in the Aurora homicide and another killing that took place three days before Mayfield's death. Ballistics evidence confirmed that the same. 40 caliber weapon was used in all three incidents. In October 2017, Kenneth Banks pleaded guilty to the drive-by shooting murder of D'Andre Mayfield and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
