A Florida man was put to death by lethal injection Thursday for the 1992 double murders of his wife and her 10-year-old daughter.
Chadwick Banks, 43, was pronounced dead at 7:27 p.m. Thursday at Florida State Prison. Gov. Rick Scott signed his death warrant in September.
Banks was 21 at the time when he shot his wife, Cassandra Banks, in the head at point blank range at their mobile home near Quincy, Florida.
Police say Chadwick and Cassandra had an argument in a bar the night of the murders. She left the bar at 3 a.m. and went home, while Banks continued drinking and playing pool. Banks returned home about an hour later. A neighbor saw Banks standing outside the trailer in the dark for a few minutes before he entered the home without turning on the lights.
Banks shot Cassandra as she lay sleeping. He then went into the bedroom of Cassandra Banks’ 10-year-old daughter, Melody Cooper. There, police say Banks brutally raped the child for 20 minutes before shooting her execution style in the head.
Starke police found the bodies the next day, after a family member alerted them to the double murder in Cassandra Banks’ mobile home.
Cassandra was found in her bed. Her daughter was found on her knees, naked from the waist down and slumped forward on her bed.
The coroner determined from the position of the girl’s body that Banks yanked her head all the way back and fired a shot through the top of her skull.
After the murders, Banks went to a friend’s home where he slept for a few hours before going to work. He was arrested at his workplace.
Police say Banks confessed to “spanking” Melody before molesting her. He said the child never resisted or tried to get away. But the coroner’s report painted a more violent picture. Banks’ blood was found under her nails and on her pillow. And she had facial injuries.
Banks was sentenced to death in 1994 for the rape and murder of Melody. He was given a life sentence for Cassandra’s murder.
None of Banks’ family members witnessed the execution. Members of Cassandra Banks’ family were in attendance.
Banks wore a white skullcap of the Muslim Brotherhood in the death chamber. He looked directly at Cassandra Banks’ family and said, “I’m very sorry for the hurt and pain I have caused you all of these years. Year after year I have tried to come up with a reasonable answer for my actions. But how could such acts be reasonable?”
The execution was the 20th since Gov. Scott took office in 2011. He was just re-elected to another 4-year term.
