True Crime with Kimbyr - Pregnant “Bride-To-Be” Gunned Down In Her Own Garage Part 3

Episode Date: October 2, 2024

In this compelling third part of the series, Kimbyrleigha takes you deeper into the devastating story of Avis Banks. Imagine living your dream life—five months pregnant, engaged to the love of your life, and excelling in your career—only to have it all ripped away in a moment of horror. As the investigation into Avis’s murder progresses, hidden truths and shocking betrayals come to light, painting a complex picture of jealousy, deceit, and a violent end. Join Kimbyrleigha as she uncovers the heart-wrenching details of this case that left a family shattered and a community demanding justice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the morning of December 6th, Avis and her unborn son, Kieland's funeral, was held at Locust Crove Church. It was a day filled with grief and sorrow. The funeral occurred on the same day that Avis was supposed to receive her master's degree. It was a bitter irony that she couldn't be there to celebrate her academic achievement.

Friends, family, and colleagues gathered to pay their respects and to say goodbye to a woman that had touched so many lives. As everyone was gathering around, reminiscing about Avis's life and her impact, Keon walked in. You could feel the tension. Avis's family had just recently found out about his affair with Carla Hughes, and emotions were running high.

But the police were on site in case anything were to happen. Fred and Deborah were outraged that Keon would even show his face at that funeral. Fred thought for sure that he was responsible for Avis' death. They remembered back to Thanksgiving weekend. When Keon was spending all that time pacing around and talking on the phone, They wondered if this had anything to do with Avis' death. Latanya disagreed with her dad. There was something about her sister's death that seemed so brutal and so calculated

that she thought there was something more to it. Either way, they felt that Kian had some role in Avis's murder. And the family was furious that he had the audacity to show up and not even cry. They saw him pretending to be upset and they didn't want him there. Fred and Debra described what he was doing as just, hollering. There weren't any tears coming out of his eyes. It was just noise. And the devil's advocate would say that everyone grieves in their own way, but the Banks family was not having it. Latanya told Keon she would beat his ass, and her husband had to literally hold her back from

attacking him. And that's when a scuffle began and a few men started to turn on Keon. The police had to intervene and escort him to his car with some sort of like cloth or a coat shielding his face from view. And he never saw the Banks family again after that. That would be tough. On one hand, it's your loved one's fiance and their unborn child. But on the other hand, he's a suspect. So I don't know what I would do, but I think I would lean more towards not wanting him there. Even if he merely cheated on my family member while they were pregnant with his child,

that would be enough for me probably not to want to see him again because of his disrespect. Avis definitely didn't deserve that level of disrespect and drama at her funeral. And I wish I didn't have to be sitting here right now, telling you the story of her murder, as well as all of the deeper secrets them about to uncover. After speaking with Patrick Nash, Carla Hughes had been called in for another interview. And this time, she brought a lawyer. The man she brought in was Johnny Walls, a well-known state senator who knew the Hughes family very well from back in Greenville. He'd known Carla Ann Hughes since she was just a little girl.

Johnny met Carla when she was in high school, and he held her in very high school. and he held her in very high regard. Remember that Carla was very accomplished? I told you about all of her honors when she was growing up. So he was shocked that she would be involved in a crime of this magnitude. There were many questions she was willing to answer, but at one point, when the detective stepped out of the room, she and her lawyer friend kept talking,

they should know better, since most of us know that all police stations are recording audio and sometimes video in their interview rooms. And there they sat. whispering to one another. And her lawyer said something to the effect of, they're waiting for you to give them information about Keon and his involvement in all this.

If you point the finger at him, it'll take the pressure off of the you. But she just responded that she couldn't do that because she doesn't know what happened. Well, the Ridgeland PD charged Carla with accessory to murder after the fact, hoping that she would come clean and tell them what she knew about the man that it seemed like she was covering for. But she remained silent.

Considering Carla had always been so well-liked and successful in her life, her arrest came as a huge shock to her community. Everyone thought she was well-grounded and just a genuinely nice person. She was never even agitated or raised her voice. She was stubborn sometimes, but many of us can be. But she was always a type to take the high road. Carla lived by the philosophy her mother taught her, which was, quote, God says to turn the other cheek, end quote. So all this was so hard for people to wrap their minds around. Carla, being charged with accessory to murder? Well, it's possible. And all the videos I've done, I've realized anyone is capable of spiraling down to the depths of depravity.

It's what I talk about in my Dark Liberty podcast. Even those we least expect to model students, best friends, people without any mental health concerns or criminal histories. Kian didn't have a criminal history either. But at least one of them had stooped to this level of excessive, monstrous violence, and investigators needed to figure out who. Once police served Carla the papers charging her with accessory to murder, the detectives once again left the room, and she and her lawyer discussed the situation among themselves.

Her lawyer told Carla that she shouldn't be too concerned. The police were certain Keon was the culprit. They just needed an accusation, and Carla would be the best person to blame Keon. He told her that the reason she was being charged, was because Patrick had reported under oath that Carla returned the gun to him empty and that she had been crying when she gave it back to him. Carla said she wasn't crying and she didn't know who killed Avis because she wasn't there to witness it.

And she stood firm. She would not accuse Keon of any crime. Johnny wanted to know why Carla was trying to protect Keon to the police and everyone else trying to understand this crime. It didn't make sense. Why wouldn't she save herself? There was only speculation. They thought was Carla in love with Keon, and that's why she refused to point the finger? And if Carla truly didn't know what happened, and it was someone else who had killed Davis, was she just being honest and trying to stay true to herself? She certainly wasn't going to plead guilty. Not when police had so little evidence against her.

Together, Carla and Johnny agreed that she would plead not guilty and remain silent. And because she did remain silent, it reinforced her charge. She was taken to the Madison County Detention Center and results. and resigned from her job at Chastain Middle School. In the following days, news outlets reporting on the crime kept asking Lieutenant Neal why Carla was charged, but he didn't reveal any information to the press. Instead, he continued to reach out to Keon. His car was now missing, and he had never gone back to school or told anyone if he might come back.

The kids at this school were so confused about what happened to their favorite language arts and science teacher. It felt like a big hole in their community, and the flood of newspaper articles kept saying the same thing, that the police couldn't comment on Avis' case until Keon was interviewed. Deborah and Fred were relieved that someone was being charged in the crime. Deborah told the Clarion ledger on December 7th that she had actually met Carla before. Yeah, it's true. She'd been to one of Avis's housewarming parties. Carla had visited as Keon's friend.

There were no other reports that Avis and Carla knew one another. Also, since Avis and Kian had been living in their house long before Carla started teaching at Chastain, the timeline was a little bit off. But this showed me just how much Avis's case was affecting her family. Deborah was horrified and upset to learn that she might have met the person who killed her daughter, especially knowing that this crime could have been prevented if Carla would have just run off with Kian and left Avis alone. Anything would have been better than this. On Friday, December 8th, Lieutenant Neal continued his investigation,

now directing his efforts to figure out if Carla committed this crime. He applied for a search warrant on the 6th, and you know those things take a few days to go through. But finally, it was ready. Detective Dillard actually recorded a walkthrough, a video of Carla's apartment. They were hoping to find a few different things. The missing bullet shells, a missing folding knife, bloodstained clothing, shoes that matched the shoe print on the door, gloves, or any written communication between Carla and Keon that would reveal more about their

relationship. The search found three things. First, they found a photograph of Keon, propped up on Carla's nightstand among a bunch of other photos that she had of him. This further established the affair between the two of them. Second, a handwritten poem addressed to Carla and signed with the initials KP. And we know that That's Keon Pittman's initials. Third, as Carla's closet was being searched, they found hundreds of shoes still in their boxes. You can see them right here, but one pair stood out,

a size 10 women's black tread safe tennis shoe. These were non-slip shoes that someone would usually wear to work if they were like waiting tables. Police sent the shoes to the Mississippi Crime Laboratory and the tread pattern. I mean, you could even look at it. It was identical to the shoe print found on Avis' back door. And here's what's so interesting.

A size 10 in women's is a size 8 in men's. So these shoes were the exact same size that they were looking for all along. They were quickly sent to lab for DNA testing. The initial test had no DNA detected on the shoes. However, the detectives decided to send these shoes to a second lab for a more in-depth analysis and there, a technician. carefully examine them under a microscope and they were astonished because they found several microscopic blood stains on that shoe. The technician conducted DNA testing on those dried bloodstains

and the results were conclusive. The blood found on the shoe was an exact match for Avis Banks. This evidence indicated that Carla came into contact with Avis at some time during her murder. And the charges against Carla were upgraded to two counts of Kavis. In Mississippi, killing a pregnant woman is the equivalent to killing two people. And the consequences of capital murder is either life in prison or the death penalty. Carla's prison time started immediately after she was charged. She was held without bond at the detention center, and police finally revealed to the newspapers that she was charged

because she was associated with both the murder weapon and the shoe print. That's pretty damning. Fred and Deborah did not attend Carla's initial hearing. Carla's initial hearing, but they said that they were glad someone was being brought to justice. The matter of Keon's innocence was yet to be determined. Police still needed to track this man down. As far as we know, Keon was never officially fired from Chastain, but since he never promised to return, it counted as a resignation. On December 13th, he did drive to the police department to talk to Lieutenant Neal, but Keon turned his car around as soon as he saw reporters. Antoine, his lawyer,

said that Keon would return to work in January once the media stopped intensely covering this case. He made an offer to the police that Keon would answer all their questions in written form like an email. But that wasn't going to cut it. There was so much nonverbal body language that you can analyze through an in-person interview. It was crucial that police figure out how Keon was involved and they needed to interview him in person. They finally got their chance in January. He was a witness at Carla's preliminary trial, which was held January 2nd of 2007. The courtroom was packed. And Keon answered several questions about his affair with Carla. And interestingly enough, it didn't quite match up with Carla's interpretation of their relationship.

This is going to get good, so please don't leave now. Here's where it gets very interesting and equally disturbing. And I hope we're ready for this. Kiann was introduced, to Carla when she began working at the middle school in August of 2006. And he said there was instant chemistry between the two of them. It began with innocent flirting, but it quickly turned into them passing notes to one another during school hours and having their students actually facilitating this. Kian would write one and then have a student drop it off to Carla and vice versa. Very inappropriate.

Carla was so similar to Avis. They were both intelligent, accomplished, beautiful women. But Carla was her opposite in some ways, ways that Keon was very attracted to. She was social. She enjoyed partying, whereas Avis liked to stay at home and was more family-oriented. Carla was his fun girl, and she quickly began making it obvious that she was interested in Keon, regardless of the fact that he had a fiancé at home that was pregnant with his baby, and ugh, that's just pathetic.

After only three weeks of knowing each other, she tells Keon that she rides a motorist. cycle, which of course intrigued him, so she offered to go on a ride with him. They just needed to stop by her apartment, close to school, so she could change real fast. But instead of seeking the privacy of her bathroom or bedroom alone, no, Carla just takes her clothes off right in front of Keon. He got the message loud and clear. And soon, Carla was coming over to Keon's bar and drinking all night, which eventually led them to going back to her place and having sex. And this was only a few days after she got naked right in front of him. That was the other thing.

Kian said that Carla wouldn't say no to anything when it came to the bedroom. They began sleeping together three or four times a week, and Kian described it as a sexual adventure. And they weren't hiding their affair when Carla came into his bar. Kian would pay her special attention, even played with her feet at her table

in front of other customers and coworkers. They were very brazen. All of this happening while Avis is pregnant. She's working all day. She's waiting for him to get back home from what she thinks is him working hard to provide for their growing family and disgust me. And I hope this case is a big eye-opener, but many men don't watch these videos. So it's most likely only going to cause women to have more fear and anxiety because I know that's what it did to me, sadly. But this isn't me just pointing fingershead men. Ladies, take note of how dangerous an affair can be. On Labor Day weekend in September, just a few weeks after they started sleeping together, Keon boldly takes a trip to Memphis with Carla.

I don't know how he pulled that off, but while there, he confided in her that he's not always completely satisfied with his relationship with Davis. To what extent, I don't know. But he said he realized after all this he may have led Carla on when he was just in his feelings at the time. He didn't love Carla. It was merely sexual, according to him. but I think writing someone a poem is more emotional than just physical.

Would you agree or not? While Carla became more and more possessive over Keon as time went on, she began to imagine what would we be like if she was his wife and she was living in a nice house having his baby, not Avis. Carla doesn't hold back. She begins pressuring Keon to break things off with Avis, but he refuses. Even when Carla tells him that she's in love with him. Now we're only hearing his.

side of things. We don't know what he actually told Carla, but she must have thought the pregnancy was a big reason that Keon wouldn't leave. That may be why Carla announced to Keon that she was pregnant with his baby. Maybe that would change his mind. Shocked when he heard this, Keon had no idea how he was going to deal with two pregnant women in his life at the same time. Carla was getting more and more bold as well. She wanted Keon to get caught. There was one weekend that that he and Avis took a trip to attend his cousin's wedding in Detroit, and when they got back to the airport in Mississippi, Carla was there, waiting in her car, watching them.

Keon pretended that he did not see her, and thankfully, Avis was not aware of her presence, but the next time he's with Carla, he confronts her about this, and Carla lies that her aunt was borrowing her car. But finally she comes clean and tells him, she just wanted to see who he was bringing on his trip to Detroit. Carla was well aware that she wasn't the only person Keon was cheating with. Later in October, she said that her pregnancy test was not valid.

It was a false positive. Her doctor said it had something to do with her birth control method that she was using, whatever that means, but I think it's clear that Carla wasn't being honest to begin with. And Keon was so happy to receive this news that she is not having his baby. And Carla becomes irate. How dare he be happy that she's not pregnant? So she threatened to drive over to Avis and tell her about their affair. She actually got in her car, started driving over there.

He's following behind her, calling her on the phone and begging her not to. He finally said, if she pulled up to his house, he would call the police. Carla finally backed down. Despite all this, though, Keon still thought the sex was worth all of this drama because he continued seeing Carla. He said it was like he was addicted, but insisted he wasn't making love to her. Well, maybe not in his mind, but it was clear that Carla wanted more. By the time Thanksgiving comes around, Keon and Avis made their way to Latanya's out in Houston

and remember his phone kept ringing? Well, it was another woman. It was Carla begging him to come spend the holidays with her. Oh, and by the way, Keon had met Carla's friends and family. And when he did, she would introduce him as her future husband. Yeah. He didn't see that as a red flag. Carla kept interrupting dinner and Keon kept answering instead of ignoring her calls.

Finally, Avis jokingly asked him, who's that? Your girlfriend that keeps calling? And he made light of it. He just said it was a family issue. Well, you'd think all of this is quite a hassle for Keon, so much so that he would just stop seeing Carla. Plus, if it was just sex, then why was he doing so much for her? Risking so much for her.

The weekend after Thanksgiving, Avis and Keon make a trip out to his mom's house to spend some time there. Well, guess who drives out there with a friend and gets a hotel nearby? Yeah, Carla. And she's begging Keon to come see her. He finally gives in her demands and meets her at a bar on Saturday night. I don't know how he was able to excuse his house. to Avis and his mother, but after a few drinks, Keon tells Karla he's got to get back to his mom. This is supposed to be family time.

And she's livid. She doesn't like being second. So an argument starts and it continues into the next day over texts and calls. And at this point, Carla tells Kean that something has to change. She tells him that Avis isn't the right person for him and that they should just run away together. Well, he agreed on one thing. did need to change. So he decided to go distant and stop returning her messages and her calls because he'd had enough. Then Keon described the events on the evening that Avis was murdered,

and we already know all of that. Remember, he's on the stand saying all this at Carla's preliminary hearing. But when Carla's defense attorney, Johnny Walls, begins questioning Keon, he's not as forward with his information. He refused to answer any questions. How frustrating is that? He He took the stand, swore to say the whole truth, and nothing about the truth, but remained silent. But I guess he has the right to protect himself. Because of Keon's behavior, everyone in the room started to suspect he was hiding something, and Johnny was understandably frustrated. He ended his questioning by asking Keon, have you had a chance to cry yet?

And everyone in the courtroom gasped. A couple people laughed. I mean, Keon was not the easiest guy to like based on his string of affairs, but nobody expected Johnny to just burn him like that in front of the whole courtroom. But the judge ruled he would appoint a grand jury for Carla's trial. There was a ton of evidence to uncover. Some was still being processed and the community was increasingly invested in the outcome of this case. There was a lot of outward support for Carla. And Deborah said it was really hard to stomach. There was all this rhetoric going around about how great Carla was when her daughter was the victim. All she was doing

was hearing all about what a great person Carla was, how many beauty pageants she won, how everyone thought this had to be a mistake. There was a mistake. Kian getting involved with this other woman. In February 2007, the state decided to pursue the death penalty against Carla, due to the particularly cruel and heinous nature of Avis's murder. When a reporter for the Clarion Ledger interviewed Deborah Banks, Avis's mom, she was asked for her thoughts, and Deborah responded with, well, she brought this on herself. There were three whole years in between Carla's preliminary hearing and the actual trial. It usually takes a year or two maybe, but this was a long time. And a lot happened in preparation for this trial. In 2007, Johnny filed 11 motions in order to relieve Carla of her

potential sentence. He motioned to replace a few jury members. Then he demanded the jury never hear the word's death penalty. He wanted the verdict and sentencing to be. be done in two separate rulings. He also said that Carla should be relieved completely of her charges because she was discriminated against due to her race. This was not unheard of. Discrimination does happen, but the way Johnny went about this was in bad taste. The victim in this case was also a black female. So his argument that Carla should be released because she was already a victim as a descendant of slaves and had to endure that lifelong sentence, so to speak, that last motion didn't go through, but Johnny was definitely putting in the work and living up to his title

as defense attorney, but also grasping at straws. In 2007, Kian also stopped talking to his lawyer, and the police just gave up trying to get in touch with him. In December of that year, Kian had straight up left Mississippi for Detroit, and he got married to another woman there. I'll say what you're probably thinking, that was fast, but grief is cyclical and maybe a new wife, was just the support system he needed. Side note. I did notice that he changed his name, and he and his new wife, who also is a teacher

and has a degree in elementary education, but is also a master herbalist, opened up a botanical institute. It's an online school where they teach the proper implementation of botanical knowledge and herbal wisdom, according to their company's website. That's still in operation today. What a total life change.

When the police find out that Keon is married, They get a copy of his marriage certificate and they give it to Carla for Valentine's Day in 2008. That's juvenile on so many levels, but it was worth a shot to see if she would talk. Carla did not take the bait. She said she wasn't surprised he was married and continued to remain silent on whether Keon was an accessory. A couple other reasons this trial took so long was the Ridgeland area changed district attorneys. And then Lieutenant Neal needed surgery after he fell off of 15. foot ladder. But on Monday, October 5th of 2009, the long wait was over. Finally, the Banks family

could get the answers they deserved. The Madison County courtroom and Jackson was filled with people, and Carla pled not guilty to two counts of capital murder and burglary with the intent to assault. Prosecutors Michael Guest and John Finger said that Carla wanted to be married to Keon, so she killed Avis out of jealousy. The defense attorney Johnny Walls said Keon had framed named Carla, and he was the only person responsible for Avis and his unborn child passing away. Kian was the key witness on Tuesday. He spoke for four hours. And I'm going to try to summarize everything for you, but trust me, there's a lot of gaps that he filled in. I'm going to make it quick. First, he said he was innocent. He called himself a fool for sleeping with Carla. He explained

that he and Carla texted all the time, and though Avis never officially met her, they had seen each other at the airport and in passing. Avis knew they were friends, but not that they were hugging up. She trusted Kian and never would have thought he was cheating. Kian felt guilty that Avis went to work and came home and devoted her life to their family and that he put her in risk by running around with this other woman. He felt partially responsible for what happened. At least he could own up to his behaviors and recognize where he messed up.

Then he described his affair with Carla. We've already heard most of it, but wow. Just wow. Carla and Kian had the audacity to have sex in Avis's house three different times when she was at work. So Carla had been in that house enough times to know the full layout and that was important. They spent so much time together for a while that Kian had a key to Carla's apartment that we said he gave it back in mid-November. This would come in when it came to Carla's defense. Keon said he was totally stringing Carla along. There was no emotional connection, but he did

He did everything to make her feel special, and she wanted to spend time with him constantly. She kept his love notes in her bedroom and was in complete denial about him not wanting more. Kian told some wild stories, but keep in mind, this is Kiann trying to save himself from being implicated and sent to jail. He told the court that Carla was basically stalking him, even though he was the one who agreed to meet her all of those times, which was wild to me. On Sunday, November 26th, Kian said he was talking about. to Carl on the phone while he was spending time with Fred and Deborah.

And it was during that disagreement that Carla said from this point on, some things are going to change. That was so ominous. And it was also the night that Carla retrieved that gun from Patrick. Kiann said, after his and Carla's disagreement, they didn't talk much for the rest of that week. He also said the last time he hooked up with her was mid-November. But what were they doing in Carla's hotel room the weekend before Havis's death? And why did they spend so much time together? on that Wednesday night before he drove back home and found her dead. He was at her apartment getting groceries.

I'm doing air quotes. Getting groceries for almost an hour. So something does not add up. But Keon broke down the timeline of events. He confirmed Carla's statement that he dropped off the groceries at her house, left around 515, went to basketball practice, and spent the entire time texting another woman, Bridget. Bridget was a mom of one of the kids.

he was coaching. She was at the gym the entire time that he was there, texting him from right across the room. Of course, Bridget didn't want anyone to know about their flirtationship, as I'm calling it, with Keon, the coach. She was married, and the flirty text messages kept up this excitement of the affair. But later, Bridget testified that Keon was at practice the whole time, and she was also one of the women he was having sex with, even a few months after Avis died. And to me, it feels. a bit heartless. But it also means that Keon had an alibi between 5.50 and 6 p.m. when the police believed that Davis was killed. Other parents came forward and testified to these facts as well. He was at practice when it started. When Keon picked up his groceries from Carlos' place,

he said she was quiet, which was not normal. She was usually very energetic and talkative. He did admit that he stayed for about 40 minutes, and then he called Davis on his way home. But when she didn't respond, he freaked out. And once again, something doesn't add up. Kian saying that he had a feeling something was wrong and saying that he knew this before he even opened the garage didn't really add up to me. He said that he actually left his car door open.

You can see it right here. The car's still running, but the garage door was shut at that time when he pulled in. So how did he know something wasn't right before actually opening it? Maybe I'm a little confused with his statements. But what we did know, when Kian found Avis, he panicked, And he said that's why he called Carla and another woman, who I'm assuming was Bridget, hoping that they would come over and support him through this trying time.

He was in shock and he said he wasn't having rational reactions under the circumstances. When Keon was asked why he didn't immediately call 911, again, he said to the jury that he just didn't think the call would go through. He had purchased his phone outside the Ridgeland area so he thought the phone would connect to the wrong police department. I don't know if this is just an excuse or if he really didn't know how 911 worked or how phones work. What do you think? The defense asked Keon about the Treadsafe tennis shoes that Carla owned.

And it turns out, Carla had actually gifted these shoes to Keon. They were non-slip shoes that were really good for bartending. However, when he wore them into the Mexican restaurant, Keon said that they told him he wasn't allowed to wear those specific shoes. So he gave them back to her in mid-November. Why does everything happen in mid-November? It's like he gave the key back to her in mid-November, the shoes back to her in mid-November.

It's weird. The defense was convinced that Keon had used the key that Carla gave him to let himself into her apartment, borrow those shoes, and wear them to the scene of the crime, and then put them back. Because why would Carla, if she did this, put bloody shoes back in her own closet?

But according to the police, Keon, was not wearing those tread-safe shoes that he'd, He would not have had any time to do all that. When he was taken from the scene right to the police station, he was wearing lace-up Cole Hans. Keon spent his entire testimony crying but without tears. Just like at Avis's funeral, Deborah told Dateline that she thought he just rubbed his eyes until they were red just before he took the stand, so it looked like he was more upset. And let's be real, everyone could see through Keon's BS at this point. But was he really a murderer or involved?

It was up to the jury to decide. Later that week during the trial, the prosecution and the defense brought in cell phone experts. Kian and Carla's cell phone devices had been all over the place that evening, and it seemed like the only way to find out who killed Avis was to find out where they were between 5.50 and 6 p.m. A cell phone engineer testified for the defense that someone could start a call in one area, drive to the next, and commit a murder while the phone call was still going on. and during that time, it would only register to the original cell tower where the call was started. This could create an alibi, and the perpetrator could get away with a crime.

But you would need to be on the phone the entire time. And from what it looks like, most of the calls Keon and Carla made that evening were very short check-ins. They weren't on the phone for a long period. Another guy and AT&T engineer confirmed that Avis's last call to Keon panged at the Lake Harbor Drive. cell phone tower, a tower with a two and a half mile radius that included the Blackthorn subdivision where Avis and Kianne lived. So at 536, when Avis called Kiann about their dinner plans, she was even closer to home. The AT&T engineer also said that Keon's calls came from carless place, then Chastain, then the grocery store, but he was never anywhere near his own home.

That is until 841 and 856, when he made two calls that pinged off the Lake Harbor Drive Tower. And that did show that he got home around 8.30. Kian called Carla at 5.37 p.m. right after he called Avis about dinner. Who knows what they talked about. Was it about him picking up his groceries or was it something else? But when Kiann made that call to her and she ended that call, her phone showed that she was somewhere within two miles of Avis's home. Then at 6.04, Carla makes another outgoing call. And once again, her phone pings at the Lake Harbour at 607 she called someone else. And now she was out of the range and on her way back home.

One of these post 6 p.m. calls were made to Keon while he was at practice. So what did they need to talk about? Did Carla tell him what she had done? Or was she confirming it was finished? Both sides have their theories. Carla did have one friend that lived near the Lake Harbor Drive cell tower. But one question that friend said that Carla had not come to visit on the 29th. Why was she near that particular tower then? Her gym was close to her home.

It was now clear that Carla was the one that killed Avis in cold blood. And Kian might have been an accessory based on the numerous calls over the course of that day, but there was no way to figure out what they said to each other over the phone. Carla remained silent. But one huge bombshell that was revealed that I could not believe was Carla had a son. He was two years old at the time she moved to Jackson to take the job at Chastain Middle School, but she left him behind to be cared for by her parents

so she was able to be free to concentrate on her new job, but that also meant she was free to do whatever she pleased with Keon. But here's the shocking part. Back in 2004, Carla was supposed to get married to her fiancé, and she too, just like that, like Avis was pregnant when they were supposed to exchange their vows.

But just days before her wedding, her fiancée called it all off, leaving her to raise her son all alone as a single mother. All of her dreams were shattered. It was a very odd coincidence. If she had killed Avis, was this some type of subconscious revenge for her own life not turning out as she planned? So she wanted to stop this other woman from getting what she couldn't have? I couldn't believe it when I heard it, but the defense tried to prove that Keon was the killer.

Johnny brought up the key that Keon had borrowed from Carla, the gunpowder residue on his hands, and his intimate knowledge of what Carla's apartment looked like. But Keon didn't know where Carla kept her cousin's gun. He didn't have the key anymore. And even Carla's extended family was convinced that she was the one that actually killed Avis, as much as they didn't want to believe it was true. Carla's uncle James said that when she returned the gun to him and Patrick, he asked her if she'd used the gun to kill anyone,

and she dropped her head and shrugged her shoulders. James wasn't sure what that meant. Carla either didn't know what happened, or she had killed Davis. She just didn't want to admit it. Starting Monday, October 12, the jury began their deliberations. They asked if Carla could testify, but she remained silent. After eight hours of deliberation, Carla was found guilty.

When the verdict was read, Deborah became very upset. She even fainted and she needed to recover in a separate room. Linda, who is Carla's mother, for all intents and purposes, went to her and prayed with her, and Fred and Carl prayed for one another. Both families lost in this tragic crime. Both families were grieving. After three long years of seeking justice for Avis' murder, The Banks and the Hughes families were absolutely exhausted.

After spending all this time together, they connected by such a horrible event. The two families had formed an acquaintanceship. They bonded by loss. They wanted the best for one another, and they wanted all of this to be over. Carla's sentencing was set for Wednesday the 14th, and Carl pleaded for her life. Her son was now five years old, and if Carla was given the death penalty, her child would have to live with that knowledge for the rest of his life. The jury agreed and gave Carla two sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole instead of death. Wow. That's a lot.

And this case just seems to keep going, but I'm almost done. Johnny will forever be known as a defense lawyer who just doesn't quit. Carla appealed the verdict on six different counts for showing DNA evidence, for asking if she wanted to testify, etc., etc., I'm not going to go into all of it. because the reality is all of the circumstantial evidence pointed to Carla. She borrowed the gun. She was at the scene of the crime. Her shoes had blood on them. It was Carla.

And the appeal was dismissed. She was transferred to the Central Mississippi Women's Correctional Facility where she's going to spend the rest of her life. I guess we'll never know if Keon had any role in Avis's murder. Sometimes cases are frustrating like that. I still have so many questions about this case. like, what were Keon and Carla saying to each other on the phone? The five plus times they called each other that night?

Could it have just been a way for Carla to make it look like nothing nefarious was going on? I'm definitely not Keon's biggest fan. I am appalled by his behavior when it came to all the times he cheated on Avis that we know of. But if he was an accessory in Avis's murder, he's the one that's going to pay for it in guilt and shame for the rest of his life. And if Keon truly had no idea what happened to his fiancé and his unborn child, then my heart goes out to him. Losing someone you love when you have all these plans and your whole life ahead of you is extremely devastating and hard to bounce back from. And I'm very sorry. From what I know and have learned about Avis, she was an absolutely wonderful woman.

And I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to continue her legacy by talking about her today. her passion for affordable daycare, her persistent kindness and generosity, and her commitment to her family. Fred said he pities Keon Pittman, saying that once he had a perfect life with Avis, and he threw it all away and got Avis killed as a result. Avis' family is haunted by a constant wonder what life would have been like for her and her unborn son if they hadn't been brutally murdered. She had so much potential to make a difference in this world. I'll leave you with Deborah and Fred's words after the sentencing. Deborah said that no matter what came out of this case, she knows that Avis will haunt Kian and Carla every night before they go to sleep.

And Fred said that now Avis's murderer is behind bars, and she could finally rest in peace. I thank you all so much for being here today. Thank you so much for giving your time to Avis' story. I will see you in my next video. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage

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