In the early morning hours of September 5, 2020, the quiet of a neighborhood in Hope, Arkansas, was shattered by the sound of gunshots. Officers from the Hope Police Department were dispatched to a residence in the 400 block of Moses Street at approximately 4:35 a.m. Inside the home, they discovered a tragic scene.
Thirty-four-year-old Kayla Nicole Banks and thirty-eight-year-old Ottis Harris were found deceased. Both were residents of Hope.
The investigation that followed determined that the incident was a murder-suicide. Authorities concluded that Harris fatally shot Banks before taking his own life. No other suspects were sought in connection with the deaths.
Kayla Nicole Banks, born on August 4, 1986, was a mother to two sons. Her sudden and violent death was a shock to her family and the Hope community, leaving them to mourn her loss.
