A Justice Department staff member in north Texas has actually been charged with murder for presumably surging his pregnant sweetheart’s beverage with an abortion drug.
Justin Anthony Banta, a 38-year-old I.T. employee at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, was apprehended on Friday after a months-long examination by constables in Parker County, part of the Fort Worth city location.
Authorities stated Banta’s then-girlfriend had actually implicated him of putting crushed-up abortion tablets in her beverage last October after she declined to end her pregnancy, resulting in the death of her six-week-old fetus 2 days later on.
When questioned by cops, Banta presumably surrendered his phone to detectives just to later on visit from another location and clean it of all proof.
District attorneys have actually charged Banta with damaging proof and capital murder, indicating he might deal with the death sentence if founded guilty. He was launched on Friday on an overall bond of $520,000.
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However Banta’s attorney Michael Heiskell contested the charges, explaining them as the outcome of a romantic relationship that “went awry”.
” He is innocent of these allegations,” Heiskell informed the Early Morning News “We plan to prosecute this in court, and at the end of the day we anticipate him to be exonerated of these charges and lies versus him.”
According to a press release by the Parker County Constable’s Workplace, and arrest files reported by regional media, the unnamed female had actually been dating Banta for about a month when she found she was pregnant in September 2024.
Banta “motivated” her to get an abortion, authorities stated, and purchased abortion tablets online to offer to her, however the female stated she wished to keep the pregnancy.
The 2 then set up to fulfill at a coffee bar in Burleson, a southern suburban area of Fort Worth, to talk about the problem even more. Authorities declare that Banta had actually currently purchased her a beverage when she showed up.
” The next day, the victim mentioned she started to experience severe tiredness and heavy bleeding, triggering her to check out the emergency clinic,” the Parker County Constable’s Workplace stated.
” The victim reported she lost her infant on October 19, which she thought was an outcome of the drugs Banta had actually formerly put in her beverage at the coffee bar without her consent.”
Detectives then spoke with Banta and seized his phone. His attorney stated he had “completely worked together” with the officers.
However authorities declare a forensic computer system analysis discovered “abnormalities” in the phone’s activity that recommended its information had actually been damaged, although they did not discover proof of a remote clean command.
A representative for the Bureau of Prisons decreased to discuss the case, however informed The Fort Worth Star-Telegram that it constantly “completely examines” any occurrences of criminal activity inside Bureau centers.