DETROIT – Detroit police are asking for help solving the fatal stabbing of 22-year-old E’Jon Banks, who was attacked Sunday evening while walking home from a store in Detroit’s Boston-Edison Historic District, according to his family.
A witness called 911 around 5 p.m. to report a stabbing near Rosa Parks Boulevard and Longfellow Street. Dispatch audio indicates officers were told the suspect ran south on Rosa Parks and may have headed east on Clairmount Street.
Banks’ mother, Shelly White, said her son was days away from turning 23 and was preparing to start a new job. She said he enjoyed making rap music and had talked about becoming a barber.
“He was like my mini me, he talked, cracked jokes,” White said.
White said she spoke with her son shortly before the stabbing.
“I said OK, son, well when you get here just let me know. He’s like, ‘OK mom … I love you,’ and I was like, ‘I love you son,’ and that was the last call I got from him,” she said.
She said she rushed to the hospital, only to learn from her daughter that Banks was already gone. She said she believes her son knew someone connected to his murder.
“It had to be somebody he knows … because he wouldn’t have let his guard down like that,” she said, adding that he was a CPL holder. “I’m just like, why would you stab my son?”
The family is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to a conviction, and urged anyone with a tip that could help police to come forward.
“When it comes to your loved one, you would want somebody to speak up, regardless of how the situation may be,” White said. “Speak up, let that family get some closure.”
Anyone with information can contact the Detroit Police Department Homicide Unit at 313-596-2260 or provide an anonymous tip through Detroit Rewards TV or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.