LANTANA, Fla. — A Palm Springs man was sentenced to 20 years in prison after accepting a plea deal in the fatal shooting of a man and paralzing a pregnant woman in 2020 in Lantana.
On Dec. 22, 2020, Keitho Banks, now 26, shot and killed 22-year-old Clayton Washington in the passenger seat of a vehicle and wounded Alisha McCarthy, who 23 at the time, in the driver's seat.
On Thursday, Circuit Judge Cymonie Rowe sentenced Bank to 20 years sentences for second-second murder and attempted first-degree murder with a firearm. They will run concurrently.
He originally was charged with first-degree murder and a trial had been set for July 7.
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a reported shooting in the 200 block of Lakeview Avenue at 12:49 p.m. Dec. 22, 2020.
Banks had moved to Palm Beach County four weeks earlier from Baton Rouge, La.
Banks' mother, Ebony Hall, called a friend to her home because he was "frightening her" and "talking nonsense," she told a Lantana police officer.
Hall's friend got a ride to the home with McCarthy and Washington, who were parked in the driveway and waited as their friend went inside.
Hall's friend confronted Banks inside the home, but Banks walked past him to the 2009 Honda CR-V SUV in the driveway. He ignored the friend's pleas to hand over the gun.
A witness heard Banks tell Washington he needed to be "strapped," which is street jargon for being armed with a firearm. He then shot the two in the car.
"I forgive you, but that doesn't mean that He will," McCarthy, in a wheelchair, told Banks. She jerked her chin skyward. "You better pray. Pray. Just pray."
