ABC News 20/20 Airs One Hour Program on Michelle O'Connell Murder, Friday June 1, 2018 at 10 PM

St. Augustine Record's journalistic malpractice, 2010-2018 is an embarrassment. Thanks to Walt Bogdanich, The New York Times, PBS Frontline and other journalists reporting the news without fear or favor.

Prediction: There will be justice for Michelle O'Connell. Look for criminal charges and civil liability on the part of Deputy JEREMY BANKS and Sheriff DAVID SHOAR (who legally changed his name from "HOAR" in 1994). Two judges have found probable cause that Michelle was murdered -- County Court Judge Charles Tinlin and United States District Court Judge Brian J. Davis. After four years, four months and 17 days, Judge Davis on Good Friday/Passover (March 30, 2018) dismissed BANKS' lawsuit against FDLE Special Agent Rusty Ray Rodgers.

Fiat justitia ruat caelum. (Let justice be done though the heavens fall).

Posted May 31, 2018 at 12:01 AM
Updated at 6:13 AM
St. Augustine Record

The 2010 shooting death of a St. Johns County sheriff’s deputy’s girlfriend will be in the national spotlight again Friday night.

That’s when ABC News’ “20/20” is scheduled to air an hour-long episode centered around the death of Michelle O’Connell.

The 24-year-old mother was found the evening of Sept. 2, 2010, suffering from a gunshot wound through her mouth in a bedroom in the home of her boyfriend, Jeremy Banks.

The death was initially investigated by the Sheriff’s Office and ruled a suicide, but O’Connell’s family has criticized that investigation.

The gun that killed O’Connell was Banks’ service weapon, and her family has said that she wouldn’t have harmed herself. Banks, who placed the 911 call the night she died saying that she shot herself, maintains his innocence and is still a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office.

The case, which has since been reviewed by multiple medical examiners, remains classified as a suicide, and at least two special prosecutors have looked at it and found there is not enough evidence to bring criminal charges against Banks.

It has also been the subject of two lengthy articles from The New York Times and a PBS Frontline documentary.

A news release from ABC News says the hour will include interviews with O’Connell’s mother and other family members; Banks’ attorney, Mac McLeod; and First Coast News’ Anne Schindler.

The episode airs at 10 p.m.