“Hey, how you doing?”
“I’m doing good, boss. And yourself?”

This is **U.S. Marine veteran and Baltimore Police Officer Eric Banks**. Moments after this body cam footage was recorded, officers would uncover his horrifying secret—his 15‑year‑old stepson’s body, stuffed inside his bedroom wall.

Eric believed that his law enforcement and military background could help him cover up a vile murder. What follows is one of the most disturbing collections of criminal case files ever.
> “What are you doing?”
> “My life away, dog. I don’t care.”

> “Who is this person?”
> “DJ.”

> “And then he also told me that Daddy made him and Tristan go in the bathroom and cover their eyes.”

—

## A Missing Teen in Millersville

On **July 7th**, in Millersville, Maryland, two officers respond to the home of **Eric Banks Jr.** after his estranged wife, **Latrice**, reports that her 15‑year‑old son, **Dason “DJ” Banks**, is potentially missing. For the officers, the call is initially routine: a missing teenager, a custody dispute, a domestic dispute backdrop.

The reality awaiting them inside the residence, however, is more horrifying than they could have imagined.

As the officers approach the home, they report hearing loud bangs from the upstairs level, yet nobody comes to the door immediately. After several minutes of knocking and waiting, a visibly out‑of‑breath Eric finally appears.

> “Hey, how you doing?”
> “I’m doing good, boss. And yourself?”

He acknowledges the officers and steps onto the porch. One officer radios in that he’s out with the subject at the address. They explain that they’re there to serve a **peace/protective order**.

> “What’s going on today, man?”
> “You’re supposed to be serving a peace protective order.”
> “Supposed to be serving on you or on both of us?”
> “Okay. The judge just ordered us to stay away from each other.”

Sitting beside Eric on the porch are his two young sons: **five‑year‑old Evan Banks** and **three‑year‑old Tristan Banks**. At that moment, officers have no idea how crucial these two boys will be in unraveling what just happened inside their home.

—

## A Custody Mess and a “Missing” 15‑Year‑Old

As the officers continue speaking with Eric, they try to gather basic information about the situation. They ask where **DJ** is.

> “Do y’all have some sort of like court order agreement on custody or something?”
> “My oldest… I know he ran out the back door somewhere. All his stuff by the back door. He ran out.”

Another officer arrives and greets Eric, who they clearly recognize from previous calls.

> “What’s going on, boss? I know you get tired of seeing us.”
> “Where’s DJ?”

Eric claims DJ ran out the back door after his mother called.

> “She called him and he went out the back door.”
> “Not here?”
> “No.”

The officers ask if they can come inside to make sure DJ isn’t hiding.

> “You want to come in? Just let you know you’re being audio recorded.”
> “He was like, ‘Do you have a phone?’ Huh? I took my phones back.”

Eric explains that he took back all the phones because they’re all on his plan and he’s “separating everything.” The officers are immediately struck by the idea that a 15‑year‑old was allegedly allowed to walk away with no phone and no clear plan.

> “So you have no idea where he is if you just let a 15‑year‑old walk out of your house with all his bags packed?”
> “No, his bag’s at the back door. I literally told him, ‘Wait for your mom to get here. The police supposed to come here to serve her a peace protective order.’ The judge told her to call you guys before she come. I’m not trying to get in trouble.”

Eric and his wife **Latrice** have both filed **protective orders** against each other, making it illegal for them to communicate directly without a police escort. Because Eric is not DJ’s biological father, Latrice has legal custody rights over him.

On this particular day, DJ and his mother are supposed to leave the residence together. DJ’s sudden disappearance on the exact day he and Latrice were supposed to move out makes the situation even more suspicious.

Officers continue speaking to Eric, trying to understand the family dynamic and gather any clues as to DJ’s whereabouts. But the more Eric talks, the more uneasy they become.

—

## Eric’s Story Gets Messier

One officer asks whether Latrice was supposed to call the police and meet them before arriving.

> “So she’s supposed to call you to come meet you?”
> “You have no idea where DJ is, honestly, bro?”
> “No.”

Eric offers to show them **ADT camera footage**, claiming it would prove DJ ran out the door.

> “You can check the ADT. It shows where he ran out the door.”
> “I believe you. But I mean, I’m not going to fight. I’m not going to do that. Listen, man, it’s a 15‑year‑old boy. Having a phone probably would have been… if he’s walking out of the house… probably would have been a good idea to leave him with. And you can work out those kinks later. But see, this is getting messy, man.”

Eric insists he told DJ to wait for his mother, but that DJ ignored him.

> “I tried to tell him. I said, ‘Sit here. Wait for your mom to get here.’ I went upstairs. Before I could come downstairs, he’s already gone out the back door. So she, I guess she coordinated, ‘cause she somewhere in the area, I’m presuming. I guess. So she pretty much coordinated with him to come out there.”

The officers tell him to hang tight while they check records. Officer Sutton returns to his patrol vehicle and runs Eric’s information.

He discovers Eric is **34‑year‑old Eric Banks Jr.**, an active officer with the **Baltimore Police Department**. He’s been on the force since 2018 and has **10 years of service in the United States Marine Corps**. This experience, officers will later realize, gave Eric the knowledge he tried to use to manipulate the situation.

After a brief canvas of the neighborhood that yields little new information, officers return to Eric, this time speaking in a more direct, skeptical tone.

—

## Eric’s Alibi: The Emotional Heart‑to‑Heart

Eric explains that he and Latrice had just gone to court. Each had gotten peace orders against the other. The judge ruled that DJ would go live in Arizona with his mother, while Eric would retain custody of his two younger sons.

Eric claims DJ confided in him that he didn’t want the separation.

> “We found out about the whole situation. His mom… that’s neither here nor there. But this is what I’m trying to tell you. Me and him were sitting at the table. He cried to me yesterday. He said he don’t want this separation. Like he know we were separated before, talking. He said he’s tired of it. He’s starting to feel like he has two sides.”

Eric paints a picture of a sensitive teenager torn between parents.

> “He’s a teenager. He knows what’s going on. He don’t want to be like, ‘I don’t want to be in separate homes.’ And we said to him, I said, ‘DJ, it’s nothing really we can do. I’m not going to change the way I love you, care for you.’ We had a whole deep heart‑to‑heart conversation.”

He continues, describing how DJ allegedly reacted to the judge’s ruling.

> “We went to court and the judge awarded him, and I called him. I said, ‘DJ, I guess your mom told the judge you wanted to go with her and you’re going.’ He’s like, ‘What? I don’t.’ I was like, ‘Well, start packing your bags ‘cause you’re going to Arizona with your mom. Unfortunately, I guess you’re not coming back here.’”

According to Eric, DJ then spoke with his mother on the phone and said she would come pick him up. Eric says he insisted police should be present when she arrived.

> “She called him. They had a conversation. I said, ‘What did your mom say? Is she on her way to come pick you up?’ He said, ‘Yeah, but she’s supposed to come here.’ I said, ‘Well, we’re going to wait. Before she come here and there’s some type of altercation, there needs to be police here. They can escort her, grab whatever she needs to grab, and go about their peace.’”

Eric tells officers he believes DJ might be hiding at a friend’s house.

> “He didn’t want to go with his mom either. He could be like hiding out at a friend’s house. I mean, yes. In my opinion, that probably is the best because if he told her he’s coming… Next messages from her, ‘I had food for you.’ Okay. So it sound like he wanted to go be with his mom.”

Officers instruct him to bring DJ’s bags inside for now while they try to locate him and speak further with Latrice. They spend another 15 minutes canvassing the area but find nothing.

Unable to reach Latrice by phone, they decide their next best move is to ask Eric for **consent to search the home** to make sure DJ isn’t hiding inside. No one expects this simple request to completely change the course of the investigation.

—

## The “Voluntary” Search

> “I just want to make sure he’s not in the house.”
> “That’s fine. I’ll do it with you then, since we’re here.”

One officer radios his partner.

> “Hey B, can I make sure he’s not cool?”
> “Yeah. ‘Bout to walk in a little bit more.”

With Eric’s verbal consent, the officers step inside. Eric leads them to the first bedroom.

> “The one with the bunk bed right here. Yeah. This is the kids’ room. DJ, this is my room. He’s not hiding.”

As they move through the home, Officer Adams later notes in his report that **Eric’s demeanor changes**. He appears more tense, more nervous. Adams tells him to relax and let them search.

They make their way up to the third floor, where Eric’s bedroom is located. This floor hides Eric’s darkest secret.

—

## The Hole in the Bedroom

As they enter Eric’s room, they notice a **crawl space / loft opening**—part attic, part storage. It’s here that Eric’s mistake becomes deadly for his story.

He had hidden **DJ’s body** inside a small opening in the wall—but in his rush to meet the officers, he **forgot to fully close it**.

Officers spot the slightly open access panel.

> “You got your little light on your face?”
> “Yes, I do.”
> “You got my light back. Back up. Okay. It might dim on you. You need to… What’s up?”

Shining a flashlight through the opening, the officer sees something that stops him cold. Inside the hole lies DJ’s body, already cold to the touch. It’s a horrifying scene.

Eric had stuffed his stepson’s corpse into the wall of his own bedroom.

—

## The Arrest and the Struggle

After the discovery, the officers are stunned. They try to remain composed while removing Eric from the house and placing him into a patrol car.

> “What’s up?”
> “They came right now.”
> “Where have one—DJ? DJ, DJ… what is up? What happened?”

They take Eric outside.

> “Let’s go to the car, all right?”
> “Yeah, let’s go to the car. Give me one…”

While Eric is being detained, **Officer Vos** attempts life‑saving measures on DJ. He notes that DJ appears unresponsive, shirtless, with jeans heavily soaked by an unknown source. It quickly becomes clear that DJ has been deceased for some time.

Outside, Eric is placed in the patrol car, but the situation escalates again. He tries to get out.

> “Stay seated. We got you in cuffs, all right?”
> “Yeah.”
> “I need you to stay seated, okay?”
> “All right.”

He begs to kiss his boys.

> “Can I just kiss my boys real quick?”
> “No. I need you in the car.”
> “Listen—just let me kiss my boys…”
> “Stay in the car, bro.”

Eric steps out of the vehicle and resists.

> “Just let me kiss my boys!”
> “Stay in the car. I’m just saying, like, it’s my boys, bro!”

Officers pull him against the car.

> “Stand up. Turn around. Don’t do anything. Stay in the car. Stay up against the car.”

They try to secure him again. But Eric isn’t done. With no additional units on scene yet, **Officer Sutton** struggles to keep him restrained. As Sutton attempts to double lock the cuffs to prevent them from tightening or being manipulated, Eric uses his police training to try to exploit the brief opening.

He makes a final, violent attempt to escape and goes for Sutton’s gun.

> “He went to grab my gun! He went to grab my gun!”
> “Stop! Get in the car, mother—get in the car!”

They wrestle. Sutton calls for backup.

> “Turn him out! Turn him out! Pry him out! Pry him out!”

Eric screams about his wrist.

> “Stop! I can’t! My wrist!”
> “Is my hand going numb? Is my hand going numb?”

They eventually get him under control.

> “All right. Stay where you’re at. Stay here. We’re going to take you to the hospital. Let’s just not wrestle anymore. It’s too hot as hell today. You sweating, I’m sweating. Can we be done?”
> “I want to be though, bro.”

Sutton agrees to get him medical attention and tries to deescalate.

> “We don’t need to wrestle on the ground. Is that helping anything?”

The struggle ends. Fortunately, Eric’s handcuffs had prevented him from fully drawing the weapon.

—

## Shock and Reflection

As the chaos settles, officers debrief briefly.

One describes how he went upstairs and noticed the attic/crawl space.

> “I go up there to make sure he didn’t go to the subway. Miscommunication. Come back here. I said, ‘Let me just check the house.’ It started getting real weird. I’m like, ‘Okay, you just stay back.’ He’s above our city.”

He explains that he noticed the attic hatch.

> “He wouldn’t be up here. There’s an attic thing with screws in it. He walked in there and saw the boy laying in there.”

They pulled DJ out and attempted CPR.

> “I dragged him out where he is now and did what I could. I immediately, as soon as I saw the boy, called 95 to get EMS out here and asked for more units.”

Another checks on Sutton.

> “Are you good? You’re not hurt?”
> “No, I’m not hurt. I should have done that if I had just done that first.”

EMS confirms DJ is deceased. The scene now transitions into a full‑blown homicide investigation.

—

## Taking Everyone to the Station

With the body discovered and Eric detained, officers decide to bring **Eric**, his **children**, and his **ex‑wife Latrice** to the station. Each is placed in a separate interview room.

Eric is left alone for some time to calm down and collect his thoughts. Meanwhile, detectives speak with Latrice and her son Evan, hoping to gather more details before confronting the main suspect.

They start with Latrice, asking what kind of person DJ was. They want to know if there was ever any sign of violent conflict between DJ and Eric.

—

## Latrice: “He Was That Type of Child”

Latrice is emotionally exhausted but steady enough to talk. Detectives ask her to describe DJ.

> “Can you describe DJ? Was he an argumentative person or was he a quiet person?”
> “DJ was more of a quiet person, until he got to know you. But he was always mannered.”

She tells them that DJ was well‑liked by adults and teachers.

> “He talked to a lot of adults, but he was never disrespectful or any of that. I had teachers from his elementary, the principal, middle school—they all showed up for my son. He was that type of child. You know when teachers come.”

> “Would you say he was a sweet boy?”
> “He was very sweet and always willing to help. That was one of the things across the board—always willing to help.”

Detectives then ask about the **loft / crawl space** where DJ’s body was found.

> “In the loft? In the crawl space in the loft—what was normally kept in there?”
> “Nothing.”
> “Safes?”
> “Nothing.”
> “Was that ever left open?”
> “No. It was always screwed. It was always closed. I don’t like it. It freaked me out.”

She explains there’s a light switch inside, and she once turned it off because the light disturbed her. She never knew it would one day reveal her son’s body.

They also ask about the funeral home viewing.

> “You called me and you said that you saw him at the funeral home. Are you okay?”
> “Yeah.”

She says she saw new bruises that weren’t there before.

> “It was before he was embalmed because I wanted to see him. And you saw new bruises?”
> “Yes.”
> “Where?”
> “On his nose—like that circular dark mark on his upper nose. His lip looked busted also. That wasn’t there. And then his eyes were like purple. They were puffy and purple.”

To her, DJ looked like he had been in a fight, and she insists her son wasn’t someone who picked fights.

The autopsy would later rule DJ’s cause of death as **asphyxiation**, with injuries suggesting he was likely **strangled**.

> “I knew it. And he was my baby, so I knew it.”

Latrice makes clear she believes Eric is responsible, even though she didn’t witness the incident directly.

—

## Evan’s Interview: The Safe Room

Three doors down, **seven‑year‑old Evan** sits in the department’s **safe room**, a child‑friendly space designed to minimize stress. His interviewer is **Miwa**, a specialized forensic interviewer trained to speak gently and appropriately with children.

She explains the process.

> “My job is to talk to kids and families all the time. And today I get to talk to you. We talk about a lot of different things in this room. This is called the safe room because anything we talk about is always safe, and you’re not in any trouble. I’m just here to listen and talk to you, okay?”

She spends the first 15 minutes building rapport—talking about movies, games, and Evan’s interests. This helps him feel comfortable before they turn to the day of DJ’s death.

She asks who he lives with.

> “Evan, who do you live with?”
> “My mom.”
> “Anyone else?”
> “I live with DJ. And then my dad.”
> “And Tristan?”
> “Uh‑huh.”

She confirms his age and lets him write it down: 7.

Then she gently leads him toward the topic.

> “Do you know what you’re here to talk about today?”
> “Mm‑mm.”

She asks about each family member individually. When she asks about DJ, Evan smiles and recalls that DJ liked playing Roblox and going in the water.

Then she asks about the **last time he saw DJ**.

> “Tell me about the last time you saw DJ.”
> “My mom wasn’t at the house.”
> “Tell me who was at the house.”
> “Dad. And then DJ. And then me. DJ was going to Arizona with Mommy, and then Daddy was waiting at the door with DJ.”

He explains that DJ put his bags in the basement and then pauses.

> “I don’t remember what happened next. That’s all I remember.”

Miwa asks him to draw what he remembers. Evan draws the staircase leading to the loft where DJ’s body was later found. He shows her where DJ and Dad were on the stairs.

> “And so who is this person?”
> “That was DJ.”
> “Where was Dad?”
> “Right here.”
> “So Dad was up here and then DJ was right there.”
> “Yeah.”

She asks if they were waiting for someone.

> “They were waiting at the steps.”
> “Who was he waiting for?”
> “He was waiting till Mom came.”
> “Did that happen?”
> “Not yet.”

When asked if anything scared him that day, Evan says he wasn’t scared. He struggles to articulate everything he saw, likely due to both trauma and the difficulty of explaining events to a stranger in a police setting.

However, the information Evan shared with his mother earlier paints a clearer picture.

—

## “Daddy Made Him and Tristan Cover Their Eyes”

Latrice recounts what Evan told her.

> “You said that one of your children said something to you. Evan. What did Evan say?”
> “That he saw Daddy bringing DJ upstairs. And I said, ‘Where were you?’ He said he was in the living room. I just didn’t want to cry too much. But then I said, ‘Oh, was DJ sleeping?’ He said, ‘No, he wasn’t snoring.’ I said, ‘Was he moving?’ And he was just like, ‘No.’”

Then Evan shared something even more disturbing.

> “And then he also told me that Daddy made him and Tristan go in the bathroom and cover their eyes.”

Latrice says this happened right around the time officers first knocked on the door.

> “Evan didn’t say anything about the knock because he told them to go in the bathroom first. So I’m a little confused about the order. So I don’t know if that’s maybe when he was going to let the police in. But Evan did say he saw that. He was in the living room ‘cause they told me he was watching Loki.”

These details—seeing DJ being carried upstairs and being told to go in the bathroom and cover his eyes—strongly suggest that Eric did something to DJ and then tried to prevent the younger boys from seeing it.

—

## Eric’s Life Falling Apart

Latrice also explains that Eric’s life was collapsing. Because of the peace order she filed, Eric was **suspended** from the Baltimore Police Department **on the same day DJ died**. He had just separated from his wife, was about to lose custody of his children, and had just lost his job.

She reveals that this was not her first attempt to get away. Months earlier, Latrice filed an initial peace/protective order, writing:

> “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.”

That first petition was **denied**. It wasn’t until months later that her second attempt was finally granted, officially ordering both parties to stay away from each other.

In the days leading up to DJ’s death, Eric was suspended, separated, and facing the possibility of long‑term unemployment and isolation. His world was falling apart.

—

## The Interrogation: Eric in Interview Room 2B

Eric is placed in **Anne Arundel County’s Interview Room 2B**, reserved for priority, high‑profile cases. Because he previously attempted to grab an officer’s gun, his cuff is attached to the table.

He sits alone for hours, glancing around the room, clearly searching for cameras. He never notices the small one hidden high in an unusual location.

The primary investigator is **Detective Lewis Adrien**, a military veteran himself. The department intentionally assigns Adrien to leverage their shared background and build rapport.

Adrien begins the formal process.

> “We want to talk about what happened, why it happened, and anything surrounding that. But you know as well as we do that we have to go through Miranda with you.”

He reads Eric his rights. Eric agrees to speak.

—

## Building Rapport Through War Stories

For nearly an hour, Adrien and Eric talk about the **Marines**, deployment, and police work. Eric relaxes as he tells stories about chasing suspects and running blocks. He laughs, reminisces, and seems almost proud.

> “He was like, ‘Yeah, whoever was running, you was moving, and you just ran…’”

Adrien’s goal is clear: establish a bond, get Eric to see him as a peer rather than an enemy. Eric appears to enjoy the conversation. For a brief time, he’s no longer just a suspect—he’s a Marine again, recounting battle stories.

But eventually, Adrien brings him gently back to reality.

—

## Peace Orders, Suspension, and a Collapsing Life

Adrien asks about the suspension.

> “So you spent 3 years in the Marines and you’re still active in the Baltimore City Police Department?”
> “Yes, sir.”
> “So from what I hear, you’re suspended.”
> “Yeah, I’m suspended now.”
> “Why? Can you tell me what’s going on with that?”

Eric explains that on **May 8th**, he got a peace order against his wife. That same day, she removed the safe containing his **duty firearm** and gear from the house. Anne Arundel County police charged her with theft of firearms.

He then claims she turned around and got a peace order against him, alleging he was following her. That order, he says, initially led to his suspension.

Eric describes ongoing drama—a constant “war” with his wife—and claims he doesn’t understand why she lies to court officials about her living situation. He portrays himself as a victim of false accusations and departmental bureaucracy.

Adrien lets him talk. For now, Eric’s lying about facts that are easily verifiable, but the detective doesn’t challenge him yet. He’s saving confrontation for when it matters.

—

## Eric’s Version of the Day

Eventually, they move to the day of DJ’s death. Eric tells the same story he’d told patrol officers, but in more detail.

He says that on the day before, he and DJ had a deep heart‑to‑heart. DJ allegedly said he hated the separation and didn’t want to feel like he was choosing sides. Eric says this conversation motivated him to take DJ out on July 1st to cheer him up.

After court, he claims he called DJ and told him to start packing because the judge ruled he’d go with his mom. He says DJ was upset.

Eric then describes returning home on July 7th. The three younger boys—DJ, Evan, and Tristan—are in the house. He says he tells DJ to take his bags downstairs because his mom is coming.

At this point, Eric claims something shifts inside him.

> “On my way home, it’s like I just felt like I was done. Today’s going to be the day. I’m going to do it. I feel like my family is pulling apart. I’m suspended from work. Possibly going to lose my job. It’s like the situation building just keeps going, keeps going.”

He says he felt like everything was crashing down, and that he was contemplating **ending his own life**.

Adrien listens carefully. Eric is trying to frame the day as one of personal crisis, emphasizing his mental state rather than DJ’s.

—

## The Gatorade and the Pills

Eric describes going into the kitchen and mixing a big pitcher of **blue Gatorade**. He mentions a bag of “crushed up pills” on the counter.

He says DJ came downstairs and seemed upset, saying he didn’t want to go with his mom. Eric claims he told DJ to “wait” and that he would take the younger boys to their mom’s house first. He says he warned DJ that if his mom arrived with police before he got back, DJ would have to go with her.

According to Eric, he then sends Tristan to get his shoes. Tristan goes upstairs, then comes back and says:

> “Daddy, what’s wrong with DJ?”

This, Eric claims, is the first moment he realizes something is wrong. He goes upstairs and finds DJ in the bathroom, in the tub.

> “And that’s when I seen him. I was like, ‘What the f***?’”

He says he pulls DJ out of the tub and lays him flat on the floor. Around this time, someone knocks at the door. He hears one of the kids say the police are there.

Eric claims he panics, knowing how bad it looks. He says he should have told officers the truth but instead decided to hide DJ’s body.

He says he picked DJ up in a fireman’s carry, moved him to the master bedroom, then dragged him into the crawl space and left the access panel open so he could close it later.

He insists he only lied because he was scared and already in a suicidal mindset.

—

## The Gun Grab, Explained

Adrien asks about the struggle with Officer Sutton and why Eric went for the gun.

Eric claims he was panicked, devastated that his son was dead, and terrified of what was happening.

He says he initially asked to use the bathroom so he could close the attic door. When denied, he later asked to retrieve DJ’s phone. He went upstairs, grabbed the phone, and closed the bathroom door. He says he was shaking, overwhelmed.

When confronted with the reality of the discovery, he says he felt his life was essentially over. So when Sutton loosened the cuffs, Eric took one last desperate chance.

He doesn’t outright admit he tried to grab the gun to harm the officer, framing it instead as a chaotic, panic‑driven reaction.

—

## The Shift in Tone

After hours of rapport and storytelling, Adrien changes his demeanor. He leaves for a short break, then returns alone. The “good cop” tone fades.

He opens with a pointed reference to the Marine Corps.

> “I know you spent 10 years in the military. You were in the Marines, weren’t you?”
> “Yes.”
> “What’s their whole thing? What do they always teach?”
> “Honor, integrity.”
> “Honor and integrity, correct? I don’t see that from you right now.”

He accuses Eric of not living up to those values.

> “You telling me something just to sound good, but it’s not it. That’s not it.”

Then he drops the bombshell.

> “You keep talking about the autopsy. The autopsy said he was **strangled**.”
> “Hell no. Hell no. The autopsy said he was strangled? Hell no. Hell to the no. No. DJ was no strangled. Hell to the no.”

Eric’s reaction is immediate and intense. He becomes defensive and angry, but not particularly emotional in a grief‑stricken way. It’s the reaction of someone whose story just got cornered.

Adrien lets the information hang.

> “I’m just going to let it sink in and let you decide how you’re going to explain that to his mother.”

He gives Eric a final chance to tell the truth.

—

## “DJ Was Not Strangled”

Eric maintains that DJ was not strangled and sticks to his story: he allegedly found DJ already dead in the tub.

> “DJ was in that tub. There was no way I’m going to sit there and strangle DJ. I don’t even have no ammo to go and strangle this boy. I have no reason, nothing against him. No anger in my heart, nothing.”

Adrien counters with logic.

> “Then what happened? Tell me what happened. This didn’t happen. I’m going to tell you that right now. This didn’t happen.”

He points out that Eric has already lied multiple times—about DJ being in the house, about where he went. If he was willing to lie then, why should anyone believe him now?

Eric insists he never assisted DJ in harming himself and never put anything around his neck. Adrien responds with frustration, but then shifts again—this time to empathy.

—

## “This Is Going to Haunt You”

Adrien softens his voice.

> “This is something you are going to have to live with for the rest of your life. This is something you’re going to have to think about every night before you close your eyes. And when you close your eyes, you’re going to think about what you did to him. That’s what you’re going to think about.”

He offers Eric a way to lessen the burden.

> “Or what you can do is talk to me. Tell me what really happened. At least that little bit will be off your chest.”

But Eric understands the system. He knows that a clear confession is the worst thing he can offer legally. He repeatedly denies strangling DJ and refuses to say he did anything physical.

Adrien presses several more times, but Eric sticks to his story:

He found DJ in the tub.
He panicked.
He hid the body.
He lied to protect himself.

He never strangles, never physically harms. At least, that’s what he claims.

Adrien eventually leaves the room, saying he’ll give Eric time to think.

—

## The Camera and the Desperate Act

Alone in Interview Room 2B, Eric scans the room again. This time, he finally notices the small camera. He looks directly at it.

Moments later, he attempts one last desperate act—self‑harm. The footage (partially redacted in most releases) shows him trying to hurt himself using the cuff chain and table, but officers intervene in time to prevent serious injury.

At this point, Adrien has heard enough. Eric’s story is riddled with contradictions; the autopsy states strangulation; the timeline and the children’s accounts all point toward Eric.

The five‑hour interrogation is concluded. Eric is booked into Anne Arundel County Detention Center on charges including:

– First‑degree murder
– Second‑degree murder
– Child abuse resulting in death

—

## Plea Deal and Sentencing

As the case moves toward trial, the evidence against Eric is overwhelming. The hidden body, the lies, the attempted disarm of the officer, the autopsy—all paint a clear picture of guilt.

Rather than risk a full trial and the possibility of a harsher sentence, Eric accepts a **plea deal**. He pleads guilty to:

– **Second‑degree murder**
– **Attempting to disarm a police officer**

On **October 4th, 2022**, he is sentenced to **42 years in prison**. If he serves his full term, he will be released in **2064**.

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## A Boy Lost, A Family Shattered

In the end, **Dason “DJ” Banks**, a quiet, kind, and helpful 15‑year‑old, is gone. His life ended in the very place he should have been safest.

His mother, who fought to protect her sons through protective orders and legal channels, now has to live with the knowledge that her child died in the home she was trying to escape. His little brothers, Evan and Tristan, carry the burden of what they saw and what they were told to ignore.

The case is a chilling reminder that even those sworn to protect—like Eric, a Marine veteran and police officer—can become the very source of danger. It also shows how fragile protective orders can be when they’re not backed by timely, decisive action.

Behind closed doors, a family was falling apart. A boy was crying out for stability. A man, consumed by anger, loss, and control, chose the most monstrous path.

No amount of military service, badges, or uniforms can cover up the truth forever. In the end, the walls he used to hide his crime became the very thing that exposed it.