Cop killer, Marvin Banks, found dead in Mississippi jail cell

Marvin Banks (Hattiesburg, Mississippi Police Department)
Marvin Banks (Hattiesburg, Mississippi Police Department)

Hattiesburg (Mississippi) Police officers Benjamin J. Deen, 34, and Liquori Tate, 25, met their fate on May 9, 2015 during a traffic stop. They pulled over suspect Marvin Banks, 29, and his girlfriend, Joanie Calloway, 22, who was driving the car, for speeding. Officer Deen called officer Tate for backup because he wanted to search the car.


Officer Liquori Tate was shot to death during a May traffic stop. Hattiesburg Police Department via AP
Officer Liquori Tate was shot to death during a May traffic stop. Hattiesburg Police Department

When he asked Banks, Calloway and the suspect’s brother, Curtis Banks, 26, and Cornelius Clark to exit the vehicle, Banks allegedly opened fire and shot Deen, a decorated K-9 officer, in the face and Tate, a rookie, in the lower back. Both officers had on bullet-proof vests that couldn’t protect them from the bullets.


Officer Benjamin Deen was shot to death during a May traffic stop. Hattiesburg Police Department via AP
Officer Benjamin Deen was shot to death during a May traffic stop. Hattiesburg Police Department

On Friday, December 11, 2015, Banks, who was in jail without bond on capital murder charges, grand larceny and possession of a weapon by a felon, was alone in isolation in his cell when officers found him unresponsive. Emergency personnel performed CPR before he was transported to Forrest General Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7:40 p.m.

Homicide has been ruled out. Banks’ heart failed. State medical examiner and coroner Butch Benedict tells press the autopsy results show severe heart disease. Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is handling the case.


Clark, Calloway and the younger Banks are awaiting trial. The Banks’ brothers mother, Mary Smith, previously said she believed Marvin Banks was guilty of the executing the cops because he’d been acting strangely, but it was drug-influenced behavior.

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