Mississippi man accused in cop killings found dead in jail cell

HATTIESBURG, Miss., Dec. 12 (UPI) — A 30-year-old man accused in the fatal shooting of two Mississippi police officers during a traffic stop was found dead in a jail cell Friday night.

Marvin Banks was alone in a cell when he was found unresponsive, the Forrest County Sheriff’s Office said. He was given CPR and taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:40 p.m. local time. The sheriff’s office would not say who was the last person who had contact with Banks. An autopsy will be performed to determine a cause of death.

Banks was facing two counts of capital murder in the shooting deaths of Hattiesburg officers Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate on May 9. He was also charged with one count of grand theft auto and one count of possession of a firearm. His younger brother Curtis Banks is also being held in the shooting.