A 20-year-old Wichita woman must serve life in prison plus 5 1/2 years for a shooting in Old Town last year that left a 19-year-old mother dead.
A jury in March found La’Niha Banks guilty of eight charges : First-degree felony murder in the death of La’Tionna Johnson ; attempted first-degree premeditated murder, two counts of criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle and four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The life sentence, imposed Friday in connection with Johnson’s murder, carries parole eligibility after 25 years — meaning Banks must spend 25 years in prison before she has her first chance to ask the prisoner review board to grant her parole. If she is granted parole, she will begin serving the 65-month portion of her sentence.
The earliest Banks could be released is when she’s around age 50, after serving 30 1/2 years.
Wichita police have said Johnson was shot after breaking up a fight between Banks and a childhood friend of Johnson’s as they were getting ready to leave Old Town on May 20, 2023. Johnson was with two younger sisters and two friends at the time. Banks pulled a gun and fired multiple shots into their vehicle as the women were pulling away from the argument, at around 11:10 p.m., police have said.