Authorities say a Delta Township man hit a family with a car, fired a shotgun and left a 3-year-old girl dead.
DELTA TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A 21-year-old man is charged with first-degree murder and other felonies after authorities say he drove into a family during an evening walk, got out with a shotgun and attacked them in a Delta Township neighborhood on Feb. 13, killing a 3-year-old girl and injuring three adults.
The case quickly became one of the most shocking violent crimes in mid-Michigan this year because investigators say the victims were strangers taking a routine walk in their own neighborhood. Eaton County officials say Alexander Lamar Banks Jr. was arrested soon after the attack and later arraigned on 10 counts, including first-degree premeditated murder and three counts of assault with intent to murder. A judge denied bond and ordered a competency evaluation, putting the case on a track that now turns to court hearings and questions about motive, planning and mental state.
According to the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called at about 5:30 p.m. to the area near Green Meadows and Farmstead Lane in Delta Township, just west of Lansing, for what officials first described as an active violence incident. When deputies arrived, they found four victims and began life-saving efforts while also searching for the suspect. Authorities say the family had been out walking when a vehicle struck them. Investigators later said the driver got out and opened fire. A 3-year-old girl died at the scene. A 37-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman were hospitalized in stable condition, and a 72-year-old woman who tried to help was left in critical condition. The sheriff’s office said the suspect was taken into custody a short time later with help from the Michigan State Police, and officials soon told residents there was no ongoing threat to the public.
Charging records released two days later added more detail and raised the stakes of the case. Eaton County Prosecuting Attorney Douglas R. Lloyd said Banks, a Delta Township resident, was charged with one count of first-degree premeditated murder, three counts of assault with intent to murder, four counts of felony-firearm, one count of possession of a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent and one count of possessing a loaded firearm in or on a vehicle. Court documents cited by local outlets say investigators believe Banks used a 12-gauge shotgun after the collision. The same reports say security video and witness accounts captured parts of the attack, including claims that he fired at the family and violently assaulted adults at the scene. One allegation described in local coverage said he grabbed the mother by the hair and pulled in a way that suggested he was trying to break her neck. Officials have not publicly released the names of the victims.
The evidence described so far points to an attack that prosecutors will likely argue was deliberate, not accidental. Local reports based on the probable-cause affidavit say Banks told police he intentionally drove at the family and later claimed he had been receiving threats online telling him he “had to kill someone to save his family.” Investigators also allege he prepared before the attack. Reports citing the affidavit say he packed ammunition and his father’s shotgun the day before, then drove around his neighborhood before spotting the family. That account, if proven in court, could become central to the premeditation charge because it suggests advance preparation, a chosen weapon and a selected target. At the same time, major questions remain unresolved in public records. Authorities have not detailed any evidence about the alleged online threats, whether they were real, imagined or part of a delusional belief, and prosecutors have not publicly laid out a full theory about why this family was targeted.
The neighborhood setting has become a key part of how the case is being understood. Green Meadows and Farmstead Lane are residential streets where evening walks are ordinary, and the attack unfolded in a place where people would expect children and neighbors to be outside. That helped drive the sense of alarm in the hours after the shooting, even though the sheriff’s office later said investigators had reason to believe it was an isolated incident. The role of the 72-year-old woman also stands out in the public record. Officials say she was a bystander who tried to help and was then attacked herself, turning a crime against one family into a wider act of violence. In many homicide cases, prosecutors focus on one victim and one event. Here, the allegations describe a chain of violence that began with a vehicle, continued with gunfire and then moved into close physical assault, widening the number of victims and possible points of evidence for trial.
Procedurally, the case has already moved through several major early steps. Banks was arraigned in 56A District Court before Judge Adrianne K. Van Langevelde, who denied bond at the request of prosecutors. The court also signed an order requiring a competency evaluation at the Center for Forensic Psychology, a step that does not determine guilt or innocence but can affect how quickly a criminal case moves forward. Eaton County officials said Banks was represented at arraignment by attorney William Amadeo. The next scheduled hearing listed by county officials is a probable cause conference set for April 20, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. in front of Van Langevelde. That hearing is expected to address the status of the charges and the path toward a preliminary examination or other next steps. If the competency process delays the case, future dates could change. If the charges stand, the murder count alone carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole if there is a conviction.
What remains most visible in the public account is the human damage left behind. Deputies arriving on scene found four wounded people on a neighborhood lawn and street area where families would normally expect safety, not gunfire. The child was pronounced dead there. The adults survived, but the injuries described by authorities and court records suggest long recoveries and lasting trauma. Lloyd, the county prosecutor, called the episode an incident that claimed the life of a 3-year-old girl and seriously injured three residents. The sheriff’s office, in its public statement, said its “hearts are with the victims and their families” as they face what it called an unimaginable tragedy. The agency also said detectives continued working with prosecutors to secure justice. Those official statements are measured, but the facts already released explain why the case drew intense attention across Michigan: a young child killed, parents wounded, an elderly would-be rescuer critically hurt and a suspect accused of carrying out a sudden attack in full view of a neighborhood.
The case now stands at an early but critical stage. Banks remains charged and presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. Investigators and prosecutors still have not answered every public question about motive, mental state and the alleged online threats, but the formal charges and the April 20 hearing set the next major checkpoint in a prosecution that began with a family walk and ended in one of the region’s most disturbing homicide cases of the year.