RICHMOND, Va — Shenna Thrower said it felt like she was "stabbed in the chest" when all charges were dismissed against her fiancé's accused killer, leaving her doubtful that justice will ever be served in the case.
It was February 2024 when Pete Banks was shot and killed on the porch of his Jackson Ward home in front of his grandchildren.
Richmond prosecutors alleged that Banks and his neighbor got into a fight, which led to the neighbor grabbing a gun from his house and coming out to shoot Banks to death. Prosecutors said Banks was unarmed.
"Every day, I hear it. I can see it," said Thrower, who was inside just feet away at the time of the shooting. "All I see is blood, and the kids were screaming."
"I couldn't believe it. I just cried like a baby, because what? They have took some great person away from us, and he is irreplaceable," said Banks' sister, Celestine Harvey.
Richmond Police arrested the neighbor for first-degree murder and gun charges, but when the case went to court in November of 2024, it fell apart.
Judge Clarence Jenkins dismissed all charges against the defendant, finding the evidence was not sufficient.
"My brother's case got thrown out. So who shot him? They say he didn't shoot him, who did?" Harvey said.
Banks' family is now raising concerns about how the case was investigated and prosecuted, saying key witnesses did not testify in court, gunshot residue was not tested, and the bullet that killed Banks was never recovered.
"I know with Pete's case, it was an epic fail, for sure," Harvey said.
Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Colette McEachin acknowledged that some witnesses did not want to "truthfully cooperate" with law enforcement, but she added a gunshot residue test would not have been helpful evidence and that a bullet "consistent" with the one that killed Banks was linked to the defendant's gun.
She said the Commonwealth presented eight witnesses, including Banks' 10-year-old grandson, who saw the shooting. She said she "does not know why the court found that wealth of evidence insufficient."
For Thrower, knowing that no one has been convicted in Banks' killing leaves her crushed.
"It's rough. It's really rough, and I really don't feel safe. I'm always looking over my shoulder," Thrower said.
An in-depth look at murder convictions in Richmond
CBS 6 requested data from police and prosecutors to find out how often cases like Banks' lead to a similar outcome.
As we previously reported, Richmond Police cleared, mostly by arrest, about 55-60% of the 337 homicides that occurred in the city between 2019 and 2023. That means between 40-45% of cases remained unsolved.
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In the same time frame, data provided by McEachin's office showed prosecutors secured convictions for murder or manslaughter for about 70% of its 200 homicide case defendants. When including charges that were not murder or manslaughter but still relevant to the crime, that number increased to 80%.
"For the cases that do go to trial, in terms of murders, I feel like more recently, we've seen a higher conviction rate and convictions for the more serious offense that's charged," said Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Michael Hollomon, who supervises murder prosecutions in Richmond.
Though he warned that higher conviction rates don't always equate to higher rates of justice, Hollomon attributed successful outcomes in the courtroom for the prosecution to stronger evidence including video, recorded calls, and location data.
But some killings still present real challenges. The biggest of them, he said, is the proliferation and lethal nature of guns. In Richmond, firearms are involved in an overwhelming majority of murders.
"Many cases are difficult to solve because we have people on both sides firing at each other, and we're trying to determine, well, who started shooting first? And it's almost impossible to get to the truth of that when you're asking the people who are actually involved," Hollomon said.
Of the 47 homicide-related charges between 2019 and 2023 that prosecutors decided to drop themselves, Hollomon said the leading cause was uncooperative witnesses. In some instances, he said witnesses have been threatened or intimidated to stop cooperating with law enforcement.
In three of the cases that didn't result in a conviction, defendants were determined to be mentally incompetent. In an additional three cases, charges were dropped because the defendants died.
It's important to note that the Commonwealth can only try those who police can arrest, and police and prosecutor data don't exactly show an apples-to-apples comparison since not all homicides cleared by police lead to prosecution. For example, police can clear cases for self-defense or the death of the suspect, and those cases will not result in an arrest.
But Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said some of his department's unsolved cases were because prosecutors didn't authorize a charge.
"There are cases right now that we could charge, but we choose not to, because every case, per our policy, before we get warrants related to homicide, we seek consultation with the Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney's Office," Edwards previously told CBS 6.
"How often does that happen when you meet with the prosecutors and you say, 'This is what we have,' and they say, 'Well, it's just not enough'?" reporter Tyler Layne asked.
"It happens often," Edwards said.
When asked for a response, Hollomon said, "I think maybe some of the situations where the police feel that they have enough to charge, which is just probable cause—you only need probable cause to charge someone—we need to get to the point of beyond a reasonable doubt before we charge someone. So sometimes there's just a disagreement on what those definitions are."
Meanwhile, Tom Barbour, who is challenging McEachin in the democratic primary for Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney, remains critical of the city's clearance and conviction rates.
He said it's unimpressive that out of 337 homicides reported between 2019 and 2023, there were 136 convictions for manslaughter or murder. Keep in mind, a case closed by police in one year may take another year or longer to conclude in court and allow for prosecutors to close it.
"The accountability rate is close to 40%. It means people are getting away with murder. It means we've got dangerous people to stay out on the streets with guns, and that's why we're seeing shootings year over year topping around 500," Barbour said.
He believes prosecutors should play a more active role in helping law enforcement increase arrest rates and build relationships within the community.
"The Commonwealth Attorney's Office is really the chief public safety officer for the city because they have discretion over how to prosecute cases, which cases they prosecute, and for that reason, they have a responsibility to set priorities in terms of what we focus on," Barbour said. "We need to focus on violent crime. Let's set up a task force and combine efforts. Our prosecutors, their best detectives, really focus on driving up homicide clearance rates and convictions."
But McEachin said her office maintains a strong partnership with Richmond Police and that community members participating in the court system has only improved under the leadership of Chief Edwards.
She believes the state of public safety is showcased in RPD's 2024 annual report, which revealed an overall decline in violent crime and an 18% drop in homicides compared to the previous year.
"There is a reason that the Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney's Office is the best office in the state," McEachin said. "I have absolutely no hesitation in saying that, and if you had 120 other Commonwealth Attorneys, each from all the jurisdictions in Virginia, I would say that to their face."
CBS 6 requested homicide conviction data from the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, a jurisdiction that McEachin said is comparable to Richmond in terms of population, demographics, and crime rates.
According to data between 2019 and 2023, Norfolk prosecutors secured convictions for 99 of its 145 total homicide defendant cases — a 68% conviction rate, which includes convictions on charges that were non-homicide related but were still relevant to the crime. For example, three cases began with second-degree murder charges but ended in convictions on charges of possession of a firearm or ammo by a felon.
Insufficient evidence, uncooperative witnesses, and the death of defendants were cited as the top reasons why Norfolk prosecutors dropped charges or a trial didn't result in a finding of guilt. In a handful of the cases reviewed, prosecutors determined that the accused individual acted in self-defense.
"For the smaller fraction of cases where there is not a conviction, do you ever view that as a failure?" Layne asked McEachin.
"We look back, because we do a review of cases. Is there some way that we could have reassured this witness? Is there something that we could have said? Is there some evidence that we found out about too close to trial for a variety of reasons? Is there a video that we thought showed 'X' but for whatever reason, the jury didn't see that in that video? Those are all things we wonder about and think about and try to improve on," McEachin said.
Behind the data are victims and their families — and sometimes, they are left without justice.
"It's got to be somebody down at the court system that could go back into the case and see where the missing pieces is missed," Harvey said. "We need justice for Pete, for sure, and we're not going to stop."
McEachin said in Banks' case, there are no other possible defendants to consider. She said she felt the prosecution put on "the strongest case" possible.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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