In the spring of 2016, the life of Eric Antonio Banks, a 35-year-old Black / African American man, was tragically cut short in Richmond, Virginia. On the evening of March 24th, in the Mosby Court neighborhood, specifically in the 1900 block of Raven Street, gunshots rang out around 5:29 PM. When the authorities arrived, they found Banks suffering from gunshot wounds. His death was later classified as a homicide.
At the time of the incident, Banks did not have a permanent address.
The investigation into the shooting led Richmond Police Department's Major Crimes Detectives to identify multiple suspects. Less than a month after the fatal shooting, on April 20, 2016, two men from the same block where the incident occurred were taken into custody. Kendell L. Coward, who was 34 at the time, and 36-year-old James M. Williams were both arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
The following day, the U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force apprehended a third individual in connection with the homicide. Keon L. McDonald, a 31-year-old resident of the 600 block of Westover Woods Circle, was arrested on April 21, 2016. He faced charges of conspiracy to commit murder as well as possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The arrests were part of a broader effort by the Richmond Police Department to address an increase in homicides in the city that year.
