Two murder cases could reach resolutions during the Lowndes County Circuit Court term that begins Monday.
Derrick Bankhead will once again face trial this week for the 2011 shooting death of his disabled cousin, Eddie Bankhead. Jury selection will begin on Monday.
Also, District Attorney Scott Colom expects Tarkesha Carter to plead guilty in a 2014 shooting at Buffalo Wild Wings on Highway 45.
The Bankhead case first went to trial in the September, where the suspect was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. However, Circuit Judge Lee Coleman granted Bankhead a new trial after his attorney showed evidence that Colom, who had prosecuted the case, had earlier represented Bankhead as a fill-in public defender in a preliminary hearing. Colom said he had forgotten his role in the case because he had stood in on short notice when Bankhead’s public defender was unavailable for the hearing.
Colom said a prosecutor from the Attorney General’s office has taken over the case, which will go once again before Coleman.
The Carter case, which is listed on the court docket for the last week of the term, is expected to be resolved Monday, Colom said.
Carter will enter a plea agreement in connection with the 2014 shooting death of Brittany Foster in the parking lot of Buffalo Wild Wings in Columbus. Carter also faces five aggravated assault charges after allegedly entering the restaurant to confront another woman and firing at least one shot as the woman fled the restaurant.
All told, there are 16 murder cases on the docket, but Colom expects the rest will be continued.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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