Cop arrested after stepson's body found in wall following custody dispute, police say

A Maryland cop is accused of abusing and murdering his 15-year-old stepson, according to court records.

On July 6, police went to the Curtis Bay home of Eric Banks Jr., 34, following a custody dispute between the three-year Baltimore Police Department veteran and the mother of the victim, Dasan Jones, WJZ-TV reported.

“There appeared to be some things going on with the couple, and there needed to be some space between them,” said Sgt. Kam Cooke of Anne Arundel County police.

Banks allowed officers to search his home and allegedly said the boy had left the house without any personal possessions.

The television station reported police discovered a hole behind a white cover in an upstairs loft, which Banks claimed was for a gun safe. Officers, however, found Jones’ body inside.

“I heard the mom crying and that cry I heard, instinctually, I knew something happened to her kid,” a neighbor said after the grisly discovery.

After he was handcuffed and arrested, Banks allegedly attempted to grab an officer’s gun, saying the man would “have to end this.”

Erika DiDonato, a friend of the young victim, told The Baltimore Sun the magnet student and accomplished violinist was “always nice to everybody.”

“If you needed help with an assignment or something, he would always be willing to help out. When he would come into class, I remember he would always be smiling and coming over to me and the friends I sat with and making jokes,” she noted.

English teacher Tabitha Brobst recalled Jones was a “loveable student.”

“In a year where virtual learning seemed to separate students, Dasan helped to bring our class together and make me remember that there were kind souls and fun kids on the other side of that computer screen,” she said.