{"id":15587,"date":"2011-08-25T15:53:34","date_gmt":"2011-08-25T20:53:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=15587"},"modified":"2011-08-25T16:20:46","modified_gmt":"2011-08-25T21:20:46","slug":"man-gets-life-in-prison-for-shooting-katy-teen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/08\/25\/man-gets-life-in-prison-for-shooting-katy-teen\/","title":{"rendered":"Man gets life in prison for shooting Katy teen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Man gets life in prison for shooting Katy teen<\/strong><\/p>\n

By BRIAN ROGERS, HOUSTON CHRONICLE<\/p>\n

August 19, 2011<\/p>\n

Lee Carl Banks, a 19-year-old facing jail time for assault, wanted to start
\na new life in Atlanta. All he needed was a hot car and a little money to get
\nthere.<\/p>\n

Jurors Friday decided to sentence him to life in prison for shooting Spenser
\nVogt, a 19-year-old from Katy, for his black two-door convertible, his rings
\nand the $20 in his wallet.<\/p>\n

Banks lured Vogt to his apartment on March 27, 2009, less than a week after
\nthey met through a gay chatroom.<\/p>\n

“When I told him to lie down (for a massage), I had the intent to kill him,”
\nBanks told police in a statement recorded on video. “I took a pillow, and I
\nshot him.”<\/p>\n

Jurors Friday rejected capital murder charges that would have put Banks
\nbehind bars without the chance for parole. Because he was sentenced to life
\nfor murder, he will be eligible for parole after 30 years.<\/p>\n

After being sentenced by state District Judge Michael McSpadden, Banks
\naddressed the court and apologized to his victim’s family.<\/p>\n

“Yes, I cost a life. I was young and dumb,” Banks said. “To the Vogt family:
\nI sincerely apologize. I don’t know how you could ever forgive me, but if
\nyou ever do, God bless you.”<\/p>\n

Tricia Vogt, the slain teen’s mother, said she forgave Banks.<\/p>\n

“I forgave him from the bottom of my heart because that’s what my son would
\nhave wanted,” Vogt said. “I have one more son to raise, and I want him to
\nknow that you cannot live with anger.”<\/p>\n

The verdict, however, was a bitter pill for some of Spen-ser Vogt’s friends.<\/p>\n

“Because there is a chance for parole, justice was not served,” said Jordan
\nCromeans, a 21-year-old friend.<\/p>\n

Fake name, real bullets<\/p>\n

Vogt, who was born deaf, was a store cashier, got good grades at Cinco Ranch
\nHigh School and was openly gay. A day before he was killed, he received an
\nacceptance letter from UT-San Antonio.<\/p>\n

He drove to meet Banks, who was using a fake name, at the apartment the teen
\nshared with his mother in south Houston. It was their second date and, Banks
\nsaid, he told Vogt to lie down on the couch for a massage.<\/p>\n

“On the last day of his life, he was living the happiness of finding someone
\nwho had finally accepted him,” prosecutor Connie Spence said in closing
\narguments. “And this defendant was trying to decide where to shoot him.”<\/p>\n

After shooting Vogt once in the back of his head and once in the temple,
\nBanks wrapped his head in plastic bags to keep the blood from spilling in
\nthe apartment. He cleaned the apartment so carefully that police did not
\nfind blood during two walk-throughs.<\/p>\n

Banks then put Vogt’s body in the convertible to be dumped later in a vacant
\nlot, grabbed the bag he had already packed and headed east, prosecutors
\nsaid.<\/p>\n

“Mr. Banks wanted to start a new life in Atlanta,” Spence said. “And that
\ncar was part of it.”<\/p>\n

Defense lawyers conceded that Banks killed Vogt and that Banks stole the
\ncar, but contended that he did not commit the murder with the intent to
\nsteal – a requirement for capital murder.<\/p>\n

“This case is about timing,” defense attorney Ken Goode told jurors. “There
\nis zero evidence that, at the time of the murder, there was an intent to
\nsteal.”<\/p>\n

Goode said the shooting occurred because of the tension between the two men.<\/p>\n

“This was not a crime of acquisition,” he said. “This was a crime of
\npassion.”<\/p>\n

Banks was expelled from Yates High School in 2007 for threatening a teacher.
\nHe never returned to school.<\/p>\n

Violated his probation<\/p>\n

In 2008, he pleaded guilty to assaulting a former boyfriend in exchange for
\na year of probation. Because he had failed to comply with the terms,
\nincluding missing a class on domestic violence, his probation was scheduled
\nto be revoked March 30, 2009. He would have gone back to jail, Spence said.<\/p>\n

That day, police in Cairo, Ga., pulled Banks over on his way to Atlanta.
\nVogt and his car had been missing for three days.<\/p>\n

Police found the murder weapon, a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver, on
\nthe floor of the car. Banks later told police where to find his victim’s
\nbody.<\/p>\n

Vogt’s older brother Austin, who also is deaf, testified about missing his
\ngregarious and talkative sibling.<\/p>\n

Both brothers knew sign language and could read lips. They often spoke aloud
\nto each other.<\/p>\n

His brother talked so much, Austin Vogt said, that he would turn off his
\nhearing aids.<\/p>\n

“But he knew I could read lips, so he would keep talking,” he said.<\/p>\n

Asked what his home was like after the death of his brother, Vogt shook his
\nhead and said, “It’s very quiet.”<\/p>\n

brian.rogers@chron.com<\/p>\n

Source:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.chron.com\/news\/houston-texas\/article\/Man-gets-life-in-prison-for-shooting-Katy-teen-2133359.php<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Man gets life in prison for shooting Katy teen By BRIAN ROGERS, HOUSTON CHRONICLE August 19, 2011 Lee Carl Banks, a 19-year-old facing jail time for assault, wanted to start a new life in Atlanta. All he needed was a…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[4621,8640,7517,10585,10581,24,10578,153,20,3873,10580,1108,10577,10586,10575,10583,10579,191,10584,10576,17,10582],"class_list":["post-15587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-article","tag-assault","tag-atlanta","tag-austin-vogt","tag-cinco-ranch-high-school","tag-deaf","tag-district-judge-michael-mcspadden","tag-hearing-aid","tag-houston","tag-houston-chronicle","tag-jordan-cromeans","tag-katy","tag-lee-carl-banks","tag-life-for-murder","tag-life-in-prison","tag-openly-gay","tag-sentence","tag-sign-language","tag-smith-wesson-38-caliber-revolver","tag-spenser-vogt","tag-texas","tag-ut-san-antonio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-43p","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5989,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/04\/01\/hearing-impaired-teen-from-katy-missing\/","url_meta":{"origin":15587,"position":0},"title":"Hearing-impaired teen from Katy missing","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"April 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Hearing-impaired teen from Katy missing Tuesday, March 31, 2009 KHOU.com staff report HOUSTON\u2014The Fort Bend County Sheriff\u2019s Office is looking for a missing 19-year-old man from Katy. 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