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He watched his grandpa die in a shooting. Now this 10-year-old boy has a message for Richmond.

Posted at 2:35 PM, Mar 05, 2024
and last updated 2024-03-05 18:07:36-05

RICHMOND, Va. -- Mi'king Fountain misses his grandpa.

"He was my everything," Fountain, 10, told Elizabeth Holmes about his grandfather Derrit "Pete" Banks. "I was close to him like, like glue."

Banks, 55, was shot and killed in front of his grandchildren outside his West Clay Street home on February 25.

Richmond Police arrested Banks' neighbor, Jermorrie Simmons.

Simmons, 49, is charged with second-degree murder.

Fountain said Simmons killed his grandpa after an argument over a gun.

"I was playing with my toys with my friends and then my next-door neighbor showed me a gun," Fountain said. "I didn’t like that, so I told my papa."

Derrit Banks family

Banks, who'd just gotten home from work, confronted the neighbor.

"He got mad and threw punches at my papa," Fountain said. "That’s when he shot him."

"Every day. Every morning, we see [Simmons], we’d speak, and we’d talk," Banks' fiancée Sheena Thrower said.

Banks died in front of his family.

"He came into the bathroom, laying on the ground and I was holding him in my arms," Fountain said "Telling him papa, don’t die on me, don’t die on me. Next thing you know, he gone."

Derrit Banks family

The 55-year-old grandfather was remembered at a Tuesday night vigil.

He was a music lover who wasn't afraid to dance.

"If you met him you would remember him," sister-in-law Celestine Harvey shared.

Mi'king said he won't forget his grandpa and has questions about what comes next.

“Who am I going to look up to now? There are no men in my family. Who I’m gonna look up to?" he asked.

A GoFundMe page has been started to help support Banks' family following his death. To donate to the page, click here.

This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.

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