'Danger to Community' Baltimore City Officer Remains Jailed On Murder Charges; Prosecutor Calls Crimes 'Vile'
MILLERSVILLE, Md. (WJZ) -- Baltimore City police officer Eric Banks Jr., who has been on the force for three years, appeared before a judge Thursday morning in an Anne Arundel County courtroom.
Banks is charged with murdering his 15-year-old stepson Dasan Jones at their home in the Stoney Beach community in Curtis Bay. Police allege Banks stuffed his body into an attic crawlspace and then tried to cover it up.
Prosecutor Jason Miller told the judge, "He swore an oath to uphold the law, and he violated it in the most vile way: He murdered a child."
After police found the body, Banks tried to attack an officer. His defense attorney Warren Brown claims the death was "a suicide and not a homicide."
Brown told the judge he disagreed with the prosecution theory of the case. He told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren his client suffers from mental health problems due to his military service in Afghanistan. He said Banks intends to plead not guilty.
Pretrial services said there is no evidence Banks had mental health problems.
Judge Danielle Mosley called Officer Banks a danger to himself, his community and his family and denied his bail.
Prosecutor Miller said in recent weeks Banks began acting "erratically."
Banks' wife tried to warn the courts. WJZ obtained two protective orders she filed.
Eleven days before the murder, she said her husband was stalking her. She wrote, "I called my mom and told her I was scared. She advised me to go to the police station but I wasn't near one so I called the police and told them I was being followed by my spouse and I was scared…."
She asked for protection for herself and her children including Dasan.
A judge denied her order three days later writing nobody appeared in court and the petitioner "could not meet the required burden of proof."
Banks' wife wrote in early July, "I am in fear for my life and well-being because Eric Banks keeps trying to control, follow and emotionally abuse myself and my sons."
She alleged her husband monitored her on a Ring camera and hacked into several of her personal accounts.
She again included her children in the protective order. A judge granted it at 2:58 p.m. on July 6. About two hours later, officers found her son dead.
When authorities went to serve the protective order, they noted Banks was already in custody.
Prosecutors revealed Thursday that Dasan's two siblings, just three and seven years old, were inside the home when he was killed.
