March 31 (UPI) — A teenager was shot and killed while knocking on the wrong door of an apartment in his girlfriend’s building in southwest Atlanta.
Omarian Banks, 19, was trying to visit his girlfriend, Zsakeria Mathis, on Friday in the complex where she had recently moved, Banks’ cousin Rakiya Hawkins told ABC News on Saturday morning.
Banks was dropped off by a Lyft driver at the wrong breezeway around 12:30 a.m. Friday, police said.
Banks had been FaceTiming with Mathis while entering the complex, Hawkins said.
Bynes, who was in the apartment where Banks knocked, allegedly “went onto his balcony to confront the victim,” Atlanta Police Sgt. John Chafee told ABC News in an emailed statement.
After the two men exchanged words, Bynes, 32, “produced a handgun and shot the victim,” Chafee said.
Banks was shot in the neck and died at the scene.
Banks’ girlfriend told WSB-TV: “I heard him say, ‘Sorry, I’m at the wrong house.’ Then the man said, ‘No you’re not. N****, you at the right house.’ And he shot two more times.”
Bynes initially told police he shot Banks in self-defense, but officers say he shot the teen from his balcony as Banks was getting away and going down the stairs
“I just want to understand why he had to take my son’s life. My son was just confused. He just went to the wrong door and he was begging for his life,” Lisa Johnson told ABC News.
Johnson was “a typical teenager” who worked at McDonald’s.
“He worked. He was getting his life together, just trying to make his mom and family proud,” she said. “My son was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Bynes’ family members said they don’t think he should be charged with murder.
“He is an innocent father. He has five kids. He was protecting his family. His truck was stolen earlier this week, right now, he’s just trying to protect his family,” his cousin, Makayla Johnson, told WSB-TV.
A GoFundMe page has been set up in Banks’ name for funeral services and burial.
