A 21-year-old Delta Township, Michigan, black man is accused of deliberately killing a white child and injuring three white adults after he hit the family with his vehicle. They were only out for a walk when he hit them with his car and then fired a weapon, authorities said. When he ran out of bullets, he brutalized the three injured victims.
The Story
On Tuesday, Alexander Lamar Banks Jr. was charged with homicide, four counts of felony firearm, three counts of assault with intent to murder, carrying a weapon with unlawful intent, and possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle.
Eaton County deputies say that a family was out for a walk around 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 13 when a vehicle struck the family. The driver then got out of his vehicle and fired numerous shots toward them, according to authorities. A bystander who tried to help was also attacked and seriously injured, deputies said.
A suspect was located by deputies and taken into custody with the help of the Michigan State Police.
A 3-year-old girl, Harlow Smith, was pronounced dead at the scene, deputies said.
A 72-year-old woman was taken to an area hospital, where she was listed in critical condition, authorities said. A 37-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman, her parents, Paige and Cameron Smith, were also hospitalized.
Someone Online Told Him to Kill
Police have reviewed doorbell footage from a neighbor’s home that shows Banks in a gray sedan intentionally driving into the family before getting out with a 12-gauge shotgun and opening fire, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Police have reviewed doorbell footage from a neighbor’s home that shows Banks in a gray sedan intentionally driving into the family before getting out with a 12-gauge shotgun and opening fire, according to the probable cause affidavit.
The document says Banks was seen running from the car and taking the shotgun out of a backpack. He then returned to the backpack, reloaded the gun, and began firing again.
He also began punching the girl’s parents and grabbed the mother by her hair, “and began pulling it as if he was trying to break her neck,” according to the affidavit.
Banks then allegedly hit the 72-year-old woman with a shotgun, according to the documents. A sheriff’s deputy found a 12-gauge shotgun in the front yard, and multiple spent shotgun shells were found at the scene.
Banks said he did it because he received threats online telling him “he had to kill someone to save his family,” the affidavit says. Did this anonymous person tell him to kill a 3-year-old and brutalize the parents and a harmless woman trying to intervene?
I imagine he has a police record. He sounds like he could have a serious mental illness, but she never be free again.
Banks is due back in court for a review hearing on April 20, prosecutors said.
This happened last month, but you probably never saw any press about it https://t.co/jUu4d7bmzq
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 12, 2026
Meet Barb Cook, the brave 72-year-old woman who attempted help the Smith family after they were reportedly run over and shot at by Alexander Lamar Banks Jr.
Barb was allegedly brutally assaulted by Banks when she approached the scene, violently beaten with a shotgun.
She is… https://t.co/PgwcX3l6hI pic.twitter.com/DCqYwsBbOg
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 19, 2026
