1st-degree murder for man who killed Andy Banks during Range Rover sale in Raleigh

After a jury found Justin Merritt guilty of murdering Andy Banks and robbing him of a Range Rover he was selling, Judge Graham Shirley asked Merritt to stand in silence for one minute.

After the minute, Shirley sentenced Merritt to life in prison, which is the automatic sentence for a first-degree murder conviction.

There are many people out there who would have loved to have one more minute with Banks, the judge said, to say goodbye and reconcile any disagreements.

“You deprived his family and friends of that ability,” Shirley said.

Shirley went on to describe Merritt’s pending journey to prison.

“When you lay that head down on your pillow tonight, I want you to think about that one minute and realize that one minute will have to repeat itself 21,490,560 times before you die,” he said. “And each of those minutes you should thank God there are people here that are forgiving and asking for mercy for you.”

Shirley then directed a deputy to take Merritt from the courtroom.

The statements followed a jury finding Merritt guilty of first-degree murder for killing William “Andy” Banks, 39, during the sale of his Range Rover in Raleigh two years ago.

The jury also found Merritt, 36, guilty of robbery, larceny and possession of a firearm by a felon.

After the verdict, Merritt stood and spoke for the first time. He apologized to Banks’ friends and family, as well as his own.

“Please hear me when I say, this was never my intention,” said Merritt, a father of three. “I am so sorry.”

Merritt’s attorney gave notice of an appeal.

Not surprising

The verdict is not necessarily surprising.

Merritt had admitted shooting and killing Banks while test driving Banks’ 2011 Range Rover for a second time in September 2020.

In addition, a prosecutor put on four days of evidence, while Merritt’s attorney didn’t put on any.

Merritt’s attorney, Alexis Strombotne, used her 10-minute closing argument to try to convince the jury that Merritt should be found guilty of second-degree murder.

Merritt didn’t plan to kill Banks, she argued.

“There is one word for what occurred here: panic,” she said. “Pure panic”

Strombotne said premeditation — that Merritt planned to killed Banks — didn’t make sense since he reached out to Banks using his real email address and phone number. He also brought his brother-in-law and niece to test drive the car that day, she said.

Wake County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Latour, however, argued that Merritt likely planned to take the SUV since he didn’t appear to have any money since he didn’t have a job, lived with his mother in Danville, Virginia and didn’t have a car.

“Just because you are dumb doesn’t mean you’re not a murderer,” said Latour, responding to Strombotne’s statements about Merritt using his email address and phone number in arranging the test drives for the SUV he found online.

Met at Cameron Village for test drive

Merritt, 26, found Banks and his SUV through the website CarGurus, which notifies customers when a vehicle is available that meets certain criteria. The Range Rover had more than 90,000 miles and was selling for about $15,000, according to statements in court.

Merritt initially met Banks, who was known to fix and sell cars, on Sept. 8, 2020, in the parking lot of the former K&W Cafeteria in Cameron Village, now known as the Village District.

Banks was shot at least five times

The evidence indicates that during a Sept. 12, 2020, test drive, Merritt pulled out a gun and shot Banks at close range in the Range Rover at least five times as Banks crouched toward the passenger side door, possibly trying to get out, Latour said.

The gun was so close to Banks that it singed the blue rain coat he was wearing.

After the shooting, Merritt searched for a map to figure out how to return to the K&W parking lot and then to Virginia, Latour contended.

Merritt pushed Banks’ body down in the front seat and drove with Banks’ body in the SUV to a rural area in Virginia, Latour said.

There Merritt pulled Banks from the SUV and dragged Banks’ body by the feet to a spot in the tall grass, where it was found five days later.

Police found Banks’ Range Rover the day after he disappeared. It had been covered and parked behind a church near Merritt’s home in Danville.

In the SUV, police found blood on the front seat, bullet holes, spent shell casings and cleaning supplies, according to testimony. Someone had tried to clean up the blood on the front passenger side seat.

‘A coldblooded instant’

Friends and family described Banks as outgoing, the kind of guy that never met a stranger. They said he was a loyal friend and adoring family member.

After the verdict was announced, Banks’ sister, brother and mother spoke.

Robins Banks said she spent two years thinking of the moment she would confront her son’s killer.

“You are the man who murdered in a coldblooded instant an unsuspecting human being whose only thought on that fateful fall day ... was to sell a car,” she said.

Why take a life for a two-ton piece of metal, she asked.

“It makes no sense then, and it makes no sense today,” she said.

Still, she forgives him, she said.

“Whatever it is worth to you, I, Andy’s mama, forgive you,” she said. “I do this not in my own strength but with the power of the Holy Spirit in me that enables me to do this.”

After the trial, Banks’ father thanked Wake County District Attorney’s Office employees as well as police in Raleigh and Danville, for all their hard work.

He said he isn’t quite ready for forgiveness.

“I will get there, but at this moment I cannot truthfully tell you I am not there,” he said.