Two months following the tragic shooting death of a Houston mother in front of her 3-year-old son, the police have made an arrest.
On Monday, Dominique Menefee, 30, was taken into custody and booked on charges of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the death of 34-year-old Sherniqua Banks.
The incident occurred on Sept. 7 when Banks was found shot in the driver’s seat of a crashed car, with her son unharmed in the backseat and another passenger sustaining non-fatal injuries.
Menefee, allegedly firing from another vehicle, was identified as the shooter.
“At that time, the two individuals were questioned and released without charges filed,” PEOPLE quotes the statement in a report. “It was believed a third individual, the shooter, fled on foot prior to officers’ arrival.”
According to court documents obtained by KHOU 11, one of the individuals initially questioned by the police alleged that Menefee thought someone was following them after leaving a gas station and identified Banks’ vehicle as the one he thought was following them.
Menefee was on parole for aggravated robbery when he was charged with felony drug possession and released on bond just days before the shooting, Fox 26 reports, citing an official with Crime Stoppers.
This revelation raises questions about potential lapses in the justice system that allowed an individual with a criminal record to be involved in a fatal shooting shortly after being released.
While an arrest has been made, the circumstances surrounding Menefee’s recent release and the details of the shooting continue to evoke concerns.
Banks’ mother, Lisa Callaway, expressed the irreparable pain of losing her daughter and called for accountability for those responsible for any oversight in Menefee’s case.
“Whoever let him slip through the cracks they need to be held accountable because my daughter is gone,” Lisa Callaway told the outlet.
