Two suspects convicted of murder last month were sentenced to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
According to Yazoo County Circuit Clerk Robert Coleman, James Banks Jr. and Kendrick Myers were sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder charges last week. In addition to the murder conviction, a Yazoo County jury also found them guilty of attempted murder, which carries a 40-year sentence. Coleman added that both sentences would run concurrently.
Banks and Myers were found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder by a jury on March 24, following a three-day trial in Yazoo County Circuit Court. The murder conviction stems from the shooting death of Jalen Littleton, 16, who was shot multiple times while heading to a basketball game. In addition to murder charges involving the shooting death of Littleton on Feb. 3, 2023, both suspects were also charged with the attempted murder of De’Vontrez Nelson, 15.
“The defendants shot both victims while they were attempting to go to a basketball game,” District Attorney Akillie Malone-Oliver said. “Eyewitness testimony from the surviving victim revealed that each victim had been shot multiple times by both defendants.”
Yazoo County Coroner Ricky Shivers said Littleton died while being taken by ambulance to a helicopter transfer site following the shooting at a local apartment complex in February of 2023.
“Once the ambulance pulled up to the helicopter landing site, the victim’s pulse was lost,” Shivers said, in a 2023 interview with The Herald. “The flight crew took over, giving the victim blood and performing advanced life support. The victim then died of exsanguination (bled to death) from multiple gunshot wounds.”
Nelson was also transferred to a hospital via helicopter. That juvenile was first reported to be in critical condition but later recovered.
Banks and Myers were arrested and charged the following week. Although possibly not related, the case was the first of several violent altercations, particularly among juveniles, that swept through the community over several months.
Banks’ arrest in 2023 was investigated by The Herald, which uncovered another murder case involving a juvenile in which he was also charged in. The Herald’s investigation led to the murder case of Demontae Lee, who was 13 years old, at the time of his murder in 2021.
Lee was murdered near Eleventh Street and Prentiss Street on March 13, 2021. The crime scene left the community in shock with his young body being found lying in the street beside his bicycle. Shivers said Lee had been shot multiple times.
Banks was charged with murder in the Lee shooting case. He bonded out of jail before Lee was even buried. Banks’ bond was set at $75,000 by then Municipal Judge Lilli Evans Bass.
A Yazoo County jury found Banks not guilty in the Lee murder case after a Circuit Court trial in September of 2023.
