Family of Michelle O'Connell, who was found dead in home shared with St. Johns deputy, wants expanded probe into her shooting
Posted: September 2, 2014 - 1:01pm | Updated: September 2, 2014 - 2:34pm
By Stuart Korfhage
ST. AUGUSTINE |
As one of the signs of the supporters at Tuesday’s rally/news conference stated, the O’Connell family is not going away.
That was the main message conveyed at a planned media event in front of the St. Johns County courthouse complex.
Armed with a letter to State Attorney R.J. Larizza and a new witness statement, several members of Michelle O’Connell’s family and other friends continued their demand for a coroner’s inquest of her death.
“Four years ago, Michelle lost her life; it was taken,” sister Jennifer O’Connell said Tuesday. “We’re asking State Attorney Larizza to please order a coroner’s inquest and follow through with the recommendation of FDLE that says the manner of death was consistent with homicide more so than suicide.”
Michelle O’Connell died of a gunshot wound to the head Sept. 2, 2010. The death has been officially ruled a suicide, but many people associated with the case believe she was killed by boyfriend Jeremy Banks. Because Banks was — and still is — a deputy with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, some members of O’Connell’s family believe the investigation into her death was biased and flawed.
The case came into the national spotlight when The New York Times ran a lengthy article about the case, and that was quickly followed by a documentary by “Frontline.” Other major media outlets have followed, including “Dateline.”
As some additional proof, the family presented a witness statement from Danny Harmon, former owner of the bar The Ring of Fire on Anastasia Boulevard.
The statement said Banks was a frequent customer at the establishment and “On many occasions, I would have to ask Mr. Banks to leave my bar due to his excessive drinking and rowdy behavior."
The statement goes on to say that Banks was at the bar the night after O’Connell died. Harmon reported hearing Banks say: “That [filtered word] got what she deserved. All she did was make me feel bad. I am not going to let her ruin my life.”
Harmon said that he became suspicious about the death and came forward because “I believe that Jeremy Banks had something to do with Ms. O’Connell’s death.”
Sheriff David Shoar did not address the O’Connell family complaints from the news conference. But the Sheriff’s Office did release a statement.
It says, in part: “It is not surprising that on the fourth anniversary of Michelle O’Connell’s death, members of her family have orchestrated news events to again draw attention to this tragedy. Families of suicide victims often go to great lengths to try and demonstrate that their loved one did not take their own life and we have great compassion for these families.
“The fact is, the classification of this incident is ‘suicide’ following independent rulings from three medical examiners ,who ruled the death a suicide, and the governor-appointed state attorney who also found no legal standing to pursue the death as the result of a criminal event."
The family has hired attorney Benjamin Crump in an effort to convince the State Attorney’s Office or Gov. Rick Scott to reopen the investigation.
“So far, an unresponsive Gov. Scott has not gotten involved, has chosen not to get involved,” Jennifer O’Connell said. “We ask that he gets involved and be transparent.
“We would think that the St. Johns Sheriff’s Office would like some transparency also and show that by ordering a coroner’s inquest if they have nothing to hide.”
The family and supporters delivered a letter to the State Attorney’s Office at the county courthouse, but Larizza was not there. He normally works out of the Daytona Beach office.
The letter says there should be an inquest because “We undoubtedly believe that Michelle’s boyfriend ... killed her and claimed she committed suicide. But after Jeremy told his fellow officers his story — that Michelle broke up with him and took her own life — the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Department effectively stopped their investigation.”
An email from the State Attorney’s Office of the 7th Judicial Circuit confirmed receipt of the letter. “The documents provided to the St Augustine Office are being forwarded to State Attorney Brad King of the 5th Judicial Circuit. Mr. King was appointed by Governor Scott as the special prosecutor designated to investigate the O’Connell case.”
Although the Sheriff’s Office has admitted mistakes in the investigation, especially the early stages, it has not sought more information after doing its own internal investigation that refuted one done by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The chief investigator for the FDLE in the case, Rusty Rodgers, is on administrative leave while allegations of professional misconduct are investigated.
Following the FDLE and Sheriff’s Office investigations, the case was transferred out of local jurisdiction to King.
King said in December 2013 that despite the media attention, there is no more reason to bring charges against Banks now than there was before.
It won’t be reopened "based on what The New York Times did,” he said. “There has to be substantial probative evidence, not just different people’s opinions about the evidence.
“I said, ‘Look, if you’ve got something that’s new and compelling, I’ll look at it.’ At the end of the day, there’s really no proof.”
For his part, Banks has denied shooting O’Connell and has also filed a lawsuit against Rodgers and the FDLE for their handling of the investigation.
Attorney Robert McLeod addressed the allegations against Banks in an email to The Record following the article in The Times last year.
“Even having anyone wonder whether he has done something like this is a devastating thing,” McLeod said. “He very much grieves the loss of Michelle because, regardless of the fact they were breaking up, he loved her and had for a long time.
"For him to think that their problems contributed to her decision to end her life and use his firearm to effectuate it, is devastating enough on its own," McLeod continued. "For him now to be falsely accused in a public forum of being culpable is beyond horrible.”
Michelle O’Connell’s brother Scott O’Connell has also filed a lawsuit against Rodgers and the FDLE. He had been friends with Banks before the death of his sister and said Rodgers told him Banks was responsible for her death
He believed Rodgers for a time and eventually was fired from the Sheriff’s Office for his outburst when told that there would be no charges filed against Banks.
Since then, he has rejoined the Sheriff’s Office and has renewed his friendship with Banks.
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2014-09-02/story/family-michelle-oconnell-who-was-found-dead-home-shared-st-johns-deputy#ixzz3CBoPfreM
I think you need to review and change your headline asap if this is all you are going on;
ReplyDelete“That [filtered word] got what she deserved. All she did was make me feel bad. I am not going to let her ruin my life.”
Excited utterance, state of mind, admission against penal interest, declaration against interest -- four key exceptions to hearsay rule under state and federal rules of evidence. BANKS said he was the only on the in house when the shooting occurred. He also admitted to FDLE the scene looked stage. Much more in NYT, PBS, NBC; see also Good Morning America tomorrow morning, and forthcoming CNN and Nancy Grace stories.
ReplyDeleteI know and you know Ed that I was not referring to hearsay exceptions. I was cautioning you against possible libel actions with your use of the more definitive word "murder" as opposed to the more contextually abstract word "guilt" that you have replaced it with.
ReplyDeleteGood call on your part!
You might also want to consider posting a conspicuous and upfront "Viewpoints of the publisher." tag line so as to clearly separate the facts from opinion.
I believe that the facts that have been thus far revealed, in their totality, all point to Banks being a murderer.
Worse, the facts presented thus far reveal that David Shoar, and those scum bag cowards who defend him with their arrogant silence, is an accomplice to that murder and the murders of many others.
Record story this morning full of Sheriff SHOAR's brother-in-law, COMMANDER MULLIGAN, with the witness statement buried on the jump page. Pitiful.
ReplyDeletehttp://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/witness-2010-death-initially-ruled-suicide-25226518
ReplyDeleteGood Morning America story this morning
To start, all officers who arrived at the scene and made mistake after mistake should be fired or at least have been suspended. It was clear officer banks suffered from alcoholism and although I don't believe it was premeditated it diffenitly could have been proven as many other charges....2nd degree, manslaughter...why wasn't he tested for gun powder??? Or his clothing for blood splatter not seen by the naked eye??? From the pics it seems almost too too staged...was there any pics taken of officer banks body??? The whole investigation was flawed and responsibility should start from the very top!!!! Hold your staff responsible for not following basic policies!!!! One more thing...your department is lucky it got away with this case but you might want to rethink having Mr banks still employed with your department...I'm assuming he is...it can be costly and risky if one day he should once again get out of line and let his temper fly. It's officers like him and departments like yours that eventually get exposed for what y'all are.
ReplyDelete