Late on November 24, 2017, a dispute that began inside Sapps Bar and Grill on Highway 378 in McCormick County, South Carolina, spilled into the parking lot and ended with both 34-year-old Steven Anthony Banks and his 44-year-old cousin Joel Turner Jr. fatally shot. The bar was crowded that night, with at least 100 people inside when the argument escalated into a physical confrontation and gunfire.

Known as Spanky to friends and family, Steven Banks was a McCormick native and McCormick High School graduate who restored antique cars, supported the Dallas Cowboys, and was a father to three children. The double homicide prompted an investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division at the request of the McCormick County Sheriff’s Office.

In February 2018, four related men were arrested: brothers Jesse Cashawn Freeman III, 22, and Travis Rashad Freeman, 27, were charged with murder, and Shiquan Marquez Freeman, 25, and Devin Tyrone Crapps, 22, were charged with accessory after the fact. If convicted, the murder charges carry penalties from 30 years to life or possible death; the accessory charges carry up to 15 years.