JACKSON, MI – A Jackson County man, one of two charged in the shooting death of a teen in 2020, has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
Aivery Banks, of Kalamazoo, pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree murder and felony firearm, Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jerry Jarzynka announced in a news release Monday. The charges stem from the shooting death of 16-year-old Lataveon Cosey on Aug. 21, 2020.
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Banks is set to appear for sentencing Aug. 11 before Jackson County Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson.
The maximum possible penalty for first-degree murder is life in prison, officials said.
Anthony Jones III, Banks’ co-defendant in this case, is scheduled to go before a jury for a trial beginning July 11.
Cosey was shot the morning of Aug. 25 near the intersection of Hallett Street and Longfellow Avenue in Blackman Township, then taken to Henry Ford Jackson Hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Banks and Jones were both 17 years old at the time of the shooting.
Jones targeted Cosey for the shooting, a 16-year-old witness previously testified. The 16-year-old was in an SUV with Banks, Jones and a second witness at the time of the shooting, the witness testified.
When police first talked to this witness, he told them he wasn’t there when the shooting happened, he testified. However, his mother knew he was lying and got him to cooperate with police, he said.
“I was just trying to deny that I was there,” the witness said, adding he stayed in the trunk of the SUV with his head down during the shooting. “It didn’t have nothing to do with me. I thought it was the right thing to do to, to tell the truth.”
A second witness, a 17-year-old male, testified he ducked down in his seat when the shooting started and when he looked up, Cosey was on the ground.
Banks fired two shots and Jones fired one, the 17-year-old testified.
Authorities have not released any other details about the shooting, including the motive.
Cosey was a big brother to three siblings and a protector of his mother, his obituary said.
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