Defense rests in murder trial of Antwon Banks over killing of Steckline worker

The fate of a man accused of fatally beating a Steckline Communications employee with a fire extinguisher will rest with jurors Tuesday.

Defense attorney Lacy Gilmour on Monday rested her case in the first-degree murder trial of Antwon Banks, who is being tried before a Sedgwick County jury in the Feb. 9, 2014, killing of Daniel Flores.

Prosecutors on Friday afternoon presented the last of their witnesses, building a case that alleges Banks flew into a fit of rage, grabbed a fire extinguisher off a nearby wall and bludgeoned Flores to his death when the 25-year-old came upon him scrawling derogatory messages about another Steckline employee in a basement hallway.

Banks – upset over a breakup with his girlfriend, a Steckline office manager – went to 1632 S. Maize Road that night to humiliate her in front of her co-workers, prosecutors allege. Flores’ body was found lying facedown in the hallway by a fellow employee the next morning.

Around him were hate-filled rantings written in black permanent marker.

Among them: “Lisa I hope you die (expletive).” Next to a drawing of a hangman were threats of violence containing racial slurs.

Flores helped take care of computer and audio equipment at Steckline Communications. The building houses radio stations and an agricultural network.

Gilmour has attempted to cast doubt on the allegations by deflecting suspicion away from her client throughout the trial, telling jurors Banks “was in the wrong place at the wrong time” when he went the station the night Flores died to search for personal papers he thought his ex-girlfriend stashed there.

A security camera captured him going into the building about 7:45 p.m. Feb. 9.

After his arrest and charging, Banks claimed during a police interview that he didn’t write the messages, and that he returned to the building later to wash them off the walls because he thought they “would be damning for him” because they talked of his former girlfriend and of relationships, Wichita police Sgt. Thomas Fatkin testified last week.

Gilmour also has pointed to a lack of DNA evidence linking Banks to the crime as among the reasons jurors should deliver a not-guilty verdict.

Banks chose not to testify Monday in his own defense. He has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.

Sedgwick County Assistant District Attorneys Justin Edwards and Mandee Schauf are trying the case.

Jurors were ordered to return to court at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Attorneys will make their closing arguments after District Judge Bruce Brown gives jurors an explanation of the law that applies to the case.

This story was originally published April 6, 2015 at 6:57 PM with the headline "Defense rests in murder trial of Antwon Banks over killing of Steckline worker."