In the Eliot neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, a community was shaken by the violent death of 55-year-old Mark Johnson, a Black/African American male, on March 1, 2022. Just after midday, at 12:04 p.m., officers from the North Precinct were dispatched to the 2900 block of North Williams Avenue following reports of a shooting. Upon their arrival at the scene, on the south side of Dawson Park, they discovered Johnson deceased from what appeared to be gunshot wounds.
As investigators began
to piece together the events of that tragic afternoon, a suspect quickly came into focus. The Portland Police Homicide Unit took the lead on the case, and their investigation pointed them toward Joseph Kelly Banks. In a significant development, Banks was already on law enforcement's radar. He had been arrested just a day after the shooting, on March 2, 2022, in connection with two other non-fatal shootings that had occurred on February 28, 2022. The first of these earlier incidents took place at the intersection of North Williams Avenue and Northeast Stanton Street, with the second occurring less than ten minutes later in the 3700 block of Northeast Garfield Street.
Following his arrest, the investigation into Mark Johnson's death progressed, and on March 8, 2022, Portland Police Detectives formally charged Joseph Kelly Banks with Murder in the Second Degree for Johnson's death. The Oregon State Medical Examiner's autopsy confirmed that Johnson's death was a homicide caused by a gunshot wound. In the wake of this violence, Johnson's family requested privacy but provided photographs of him for public release, remembering a life cut short. The case also led to legal action beyond the criminal charges, with a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the U.S. Probation Office, alleging negligence in their supervision of Banks prior to the fatal shooting.
