Crime & Public Safety
Crime & Public Safety

17-year-old indicted in Barney Simms’ death

Eric Banks (Credit: Atlanta Police Department)
Eric Banks (Credit: Atlanta Police Department)
By Raisa Habersham
July 13, 2016

A grand jury indicted a man Tuesday accused in the shooting death of community and civil rights activist Barney Simms.

Eric Banks, 17, was charged with murder, armed robbery and other charges after police say he shot and killed Simms outside his home in April.

Simms and Banks met that evening at a Waffle House on Virginia Avenue about an hour before the shooting, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. Banks' mother urged him to turn himself in after she recognized him from the restaurant's surveillance footage.

Simms was a prominent activist who served on several boards in Atlanta, including the Atlanta Planning Advisory Board and the Board of the Fulton County Division of Family and Children Services. He was also an executive with the Atlanta Housing Authority.

Banks was arrested five days after the shooting. He was in the Fulton County Jail on Tuesday evening.

About the Author

Raisa Habersham is the Intown Atlanta hyperlocal reporter for The Atlanta-Journal Constitution.

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