A hearing for a homicide defendant who killed and dismembered his daughter in 2019 was postponed on Dec. 6 to give defense counsel more time to respond to the prosecution’s sentencing documentation.
Lawrence Banks, 68, was found guilty of burying/disposing of a body and second-degree murder on Oct. 4. According to WMAR, Banks killed his daughter, Dominique Foster, and left her dismembered in plastic on Mother’s Day in 2019. The victim’s family alleged that Banks had a history of killing family members and had previously received a 20-year sentence in 1991 but was released in the early 2000s.
Before Baltimore City Circuit Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer, the defendant and his defense attorney, Deborah Levi, requested a postponement to allow the defendant to review sentencing documentation from the state.
The prosecution argued that the documentation had no new information and does not believe that the defendant is entitled to a postponement. Levi countered that the public defender’s office had been closed due to COVID-19, and they would only require five more days to file a response.
Judge Schiffer granted the postponement and Banks will return to court on Dec. 20.
