Man indicted in fatal shooting of Louisiana Walmart employee

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A man accused of fatally shooting a New Orleans Walmart employee and wounding a female customer has been indicted on murder charges, according to the district attorney’s office.

An Orleans Parish grand jury on Thursday indicted Kentrell Banks, 21, of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder, District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office told news outlets.

Banks is accused of fatally shooting London McKnight, 28, in January at a Gentilly Walmart and wounding an unknown female bystander. McKnight was working near the front checkout lines when Banks fired several shots at him, authorities said. A New Orleans police officer working an off-duty security detail in the store immediately confronted Banks and handcuffed him.

Before the indictment, Magistrate Court Commissioner Melvin Zeno ruled that Banks was mentally unable to proceed with a trial at the moment, The Times-Picayune/ The New Orleans Advocate reported. He made the ruling after hearing from a doctor who mentally evaluated Banks and arguments from prosecutors and public defender Leon Roche.

Zeno ordered Banks to be treated at the state’s forensic mental health hospital in East Feliciana Parish.

Banks’ indictment won’t affect Zeno’s order and the case is still in line to be moved to another judge at Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.

If convicted of murder, Banks faces a mandatory life sentence.