An Illinois man, who was free on bond, is facing two counts of first-degree murder after authorities discovered his parents’ bodies with fatal gunshot wounds at a senior living facility in Chicago on Sunday night.
Authorities allege Ocie Banks Jr, 33, of Berwyn — about ten miles west of Chicago — murdered his 61-year-old mother, Sheila Banks, and his 79-year-old father, Ocie Banks Sr, CBS Chicago reported. During a welfare check at around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, authorities discovered Sheila with a gunshot wound to the head and Ocie Sr. with multiple gunshot wounds at Sheila’s apartment in the 1000 block of Chicago’s West Montrose Ave., police said. Ocie Sr. sustained facial trauma as well, ABC Chicago noted.
Assistant State Attorney James Murphy said Ocie Jr. drove Ocie Sr. to a card party at Sheila’s apartment on Friday, noting that Sheila already had a pair of neighbors over by the time the two men arrived, according to surveillance footage, CWB reported.
Though Sheila and Ocie Sr. did not reside together, their family said they were still married and spent plenty of time with one another, ABC Chicago said.
Video from just after 3:00 a.m. Saturday allegedly shows Sheila ushering her friends to an elevator and subsequently returning to her unit, according to CWB. About three hours later, at 6:01 a.m., Ocie Jr. is seen exiting the apartment, Murphy said. He first appeared to lock his mother’s door before leaving the building, according to Murphy.
CWB reported:
No one else entered the fourth-floor apartment until the Bankses were found dead the next evening, according to Murphy. Chicago police discovered the couple after Ocie Banks Jr. asked them to do a well-being check because they could not contact the couple, said Murphy. The son and other family members were present when police arrived at Wilson Yard.
Officers found Ocie Banks, Sr. lying face down in the bed with gunshot wounds to his forehead and back. Sheila Banks was lying next to him in bed with a gunshot wound to her temple. Murphy said police found no firearms or shell casings in the apartment and there were no signs of robbery.
Chicago police said Ocie Jr. was identified as the suspect in the double homicide and was arrested Tuesday in West Belmont Ave’s 2400 block, ABC Chicago reported.
CWB noted that Ocie Jr. was indicted by the Justice Department in January.
On January 21, the Justice Department announced that Ocie Jr. was indicted “for allegedly robbing cell phone stores in the Chicago suburbs.”
Banks allegedly wielded a firearm during three robberies and one attempted robbery that took place in Cicero and Berwyn between the end of 2020 and early 2021, the Justice Department asserted.
He was indicted on “three counts of robbery, one count of attempted robbery, and four counts of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence,” the release says.
According to CWB:
U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Fuentes allowed Banks to go home on a $10,000 appearance bond after his father agreed to serve as the third-party custodian on January 20, court records show. Authorities released the younger Banks from custody even though his father was not present at the court hearing, according to the documents.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Martha Pacold issued a warrant for the alleged murderer’s arrest for pretrial infractions while also revoking the bond conditions, according to CWB.
While speaking with ABC Chicago, the couple’s niece, LaToya Hambrick, detailed the heartbreaking losses the family is enduring:
We’re just devastated. We’re at a loss for words. I can’t imagine — talking to her every day, she had so much joy in her voice. ‘Oh niece, I’m about to retire; I’m so excited. She was excited about her upcoming life, just life in general. She had a wonderful life. She always worked. Ocie was a loving husband.”
Greta Carter, Sheila’s neighbor, said the tragedy should never have occurred.
“Whatever happened it shouldn’t have happened,” she told the outlet.
“No one should get shot, no one should get jacked, no one should get robbed, no one should get beat,” she added. “I think it’s horrible the world we’re living in.”
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