HOUSTON – It’s been almost two years since Gregory Shead, 24, was murdered outside a west Houston bowling alley.
According to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, it all started August 14, 2022 when a fight broke out between two groups of people outside a bowling alley on Bunker Hill, just south of Katy Fwy.
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The DA’s office said the fight initially involved women from the groups confronting each other when things got heated. Shead’s mother, Medisha Bush, shared her side of the story exclusively with KPRC 2 saying how he was trying to de-escalate the situation.
“He was basically trying to resolve it and get everyone away,” she said.
Surveillance video corroborates Bush’s claim, the DA’s office said, “when a woman hit his aunt, Shead ran back to come to her aid” and he found himself stuck in the crowd. Shortly afterward, court records claim, Dionate Banks, 31, shot Shead in the back, and again in the head after he hit the ground.
During the investigation, authorities said Banks claimed the killing was in self-defense on social media, also claiming to be the actual victim.
The DA’s office said Banks also searched the internet to read the Texas Penal Code on self-defense. Additionally, when the Houston PD identified him as the shooter, they brought him in for questioning, where “he made up facts about the incident because he did not realize it had been captured on video.”
It was later discovered during the trial, the DA’s Office said, Banks “taunted Shead’s friends and family on social media after the shooting.” For that reason, prosecutors asked the jury to consider that when determining his sentence.
“This defendant always tries to play the victim, and there is never any accountability or remorse, including when he testified,” Assistant District Attorney Keegan Childers said. “This man has no sense of right and wrong.”
He was ultimately given 63 years in prison, because the DA’s Office said “it was based on a formula that included the fact that Shead would have likely lived to be 77 years old, which is 53 more years of life.”
Under state law, Banks will not be eligible for parole until he’s served at least 30 years in prison.
“We know that people are going to have arguments, they are going to have fights, but it is never appropriate to use a gun to settle an argument,” DA Kim Ogg said. “The victim’s family lost a beloved family member and two little girls lost their father, and the right result in this case is that the killer spends decades in prison.”