Homicide charge filed against man prosecutors say fired shot that killed Jasmine Banks

Pierre Roberson



MILWAUKEE -- A third man was charged in connection with a shooting that killed Jasmine Banks, 23, who was shot in the head as she drove near 5th and Center on Sept. 19. Banks was driving, and her twin sister was in the front passenger seat. There were two children in the back seat as prosecutors said three men fired at each other from opposite sides of the street. One of the bullets struck Banks in the head, and she died at the scene.

A charge of first-degree reckless homicide, as party to a crime, use of a dangerous weapon was filed against Pierre Roberson, 21, of Milwaukee, on Sept. 30.

Two other men were charged on Sept. 26: Brian Clark, 48, and Romance Gunn, 25. Gunn was charged with first-degree reckless homicide, as a party to a crime, use of a dangerous weapon, while Gunn and Clark were each charged with possession of a firearm by a felon.

Romance Gunn, Brian Clark



According to a criminal complaint, the vehicle Banks had been driving was found on the sidewalk at the corner of 5th and Center. Banks' twin sister indicated she heard gunfire as they drove by, and she saw her sister's head slump down. She said she was unable to stop the car.

Three spent 9mm casings were found on the sidewalk on 5th Street, the complaint said. Surveillance video showed they were from a man who had been firing a handgun across the street after exiting a vehicle in the area.

That surveillance video showed two vehicles pulled up in the area in the moments before the shooting, and three men exited the vehicles, crossing the street together. Then, the video showed the vehicle that Banks was driving came from the south, and as it passed out of frame, one of the men appeared to fire across the street in an easterly direction before getting back into a vehicle and leaving. Then, two men returned to another vehicle and left the scene together.



More than a dozen spent .380 caliber casings were recovered by investigators on the east side of 5th Street, indicating a shooter fired at people on the east side of the street, while more shots were fired from the east side, across the street.

Banks was struck on the right side of her forehead, which led investigators to believe the shot that killed her was fired from her righthand side (in a westerly direction from the east side of the street). According to the complaint, an eyewitness identified Roberson as the person who was firing in a westerly direction from the east side of the street.



According to the complaint, investigators believe Roberson arrived with Gunn in a tan SUV, and they crossed to the east side of the street. Clark stood on the west side of the street, firing at Roberson and Gunn. During the shootout, the complaint said Gunn fell, as though he had been shot. Roberson produced a .380 caliber pistol and fired four to five times at Clark, the complaint said. Gunn then got up and fired at Clark, according to prosecutors.

The complaint had this to say about self-defense and Wisconsin state statute:

"The privilege of self-defense extends not only to the intentional infliction of harm upon a real or apparent wrongdoer, but also to the unintended infliction of harm upon a 3rd person, except that if the unintended infliction of harm amounts to the crime of first-degree or 2nd-degree reckless homicide . . . the actor is liable for whichever one of those crimes is committed."


Roberson made his initial appearance in court on Sept. 30. Cash bond was set at $50,000, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Oct. 9. Cash bond was set at $50,000, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Oct. 9.

Clark made his initial appearance Sept. 28. Cash bond was set at $10,000, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Oct. 4.

Gunn made his initial appearance on Oct. 1. Cash bond was set at $100,000, and a preliminary hearing was set for Oct. 9.