‘Justice for Jeremy’: Parents of Star man killed by police sue Ada County, officers

In their latest push for change, the parents of an Idaho man who was killed by the Star Police Department sued Ada County and the city of Star, alleging that officers used “brutal” excessive force against their son.

In the 11-page complaint, Gina and Skip Banach, who have become vocal critics of law enforcement’s response to crisis calls, alleged that responding officers were negligent because they failed to detain 39-year-old Jeremy Banach earlier that morning and caused a “more tenuous situation,” according to the complaint.

The Star Police Department was first called to the Banachs’ Star home in June 2022 after Jeremy Banach showed up under the influence of drugs and refused to leave, according to the Ada County Sheriff’s Office. The officers — who knew Jeremy Banach was carrying a gun while under the influence, which is illegal — persuaded him to leave the house, according to an investigative report.

Police later learned he had stolen the gun from his father and began searching for Jeremy.

Star Police Officer Jason Woodcook shot and killed Jeremy less than two hours later after the Ada County Sheriff’s Office said Jeremythreatened nearby officers. The Banachs have said that their son wasn’t threatening anybody but himself, adding in the lawsuit that officers escalated the situation and didn’t use any deescalation techniques. Woodcook was cleared of any wrongdoing.

The Banachs are seeking damages for the loss of their son and asked that the damages be determined through a jury trial. They said costs are “likely in the excess” of $500,000 and may seek additional training or education for officers. The lawsuit, filed in the 4th District Court in Ada County, was obtained by the Idaho Statesman through court fillings. It was first reported by KTVB.

Skip Banach told the Statesman in an interview Tuesday that he hopes the lawsuit motivates the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, which provides officers to the Star Police Department, to add additional training for its officers.

“What’s most important to me is not making any money in this lawsuit,” Skip Banach said by phone. “It’s trying to get justice for Jeremy, and hopefully another family won’t have to go through this.”

The Banachs also named the involved officers and Star Police Chief Zach Hessing in the lawsuit. The Ada County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.

Banachs question why non-lethal force wasn’t used

On the morning of June 15, 2022, Skip Banach called the Star Police Department, for which officers are employed by the Ada County Sheriff’s Office. Jeremy Banach’s father reported that his son showed up at his parents’ home under the influence of drugs and refused to leave, according to an investigative report published by the Sheriff’s Office.

Officers responded to the Banachs’ Star home and, after several minutes, persuaded an armed Jeremy Banach to leave while outside of the house. The Banachs, who were inside the house at the time, said they “were shocked” the officers allowed their son to leave “while both armed and appearing to be under the influence of substances” without notifying them, according to the complaint.

“I would have tackled him and wrestled him down,” Skip Banach told the Statesman. In the complaint, the Banachs questioned why the officers didn’t search their son, remove the gun from his possession, verify the gun’s ownership or detain Jeremy Banach.

Star Police Officer Michael Henderson, one of the responding officers, said in a report that while he knew carrying a weapon under the influence of a controlled substance was illegal, Jeremy wasn’t threatening and didn’t want to risk the “high likelihood” of a police shooting. But once officers learned that he had stolen the gun from his father, they began actively looking for him.

Stealing a gun is a felony, while carrying one under the influence is a misdemeanor. Under Idaho law, officers can arrest someone for a misdemeanor if they see the crime or get a warrant.

Detectives Ashley Turner and Jonathan Steele, along with Woodcook, found Jeremy roughly an hour and a half later outside of the Star Mercantile and Lumber, one of the city’s grocery stores. They followed him across the grocery store’s parking lot and asked him several times to drop the gun, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Woodcook fired five rounds at Jeremy’s back, the Sheriff’s Office said. The complaint alleged Woodcook acted “recklessly and with extreme negligence,” and the Banachs questioned why officers didn’t use any non-lethal options.

“They did not use any other means to suppress him,” Skip Banach told the Statesman. “They went from walking and talking to shooting. There’s eight other steps they could have taken.”

Jeremy pointed the gun toward the back of his head, according to body-camera footage reviewed by the Statesman. The Ada County Sheriff’s Office said Jeremy was “in the process of aiming to fire a round over his shoulder” at the detectives, according to a news release.

“This would have only been possible if Jeremy had eyes in the back of his head,” the Banachs said in the complaint.

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Ada County prosecutors won’t conduct additional review

The Banachs have been outspoken critics of police practices in the Treasure Valley and have been pushing for change through several avenues. Skip Banach last year appeared in front of the Star City Council, protested the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Payton Wasson in Boise, and asked for a citizen review board to investigate police shootings.

More recently, the Banachs published an hourlong documentary on their son’s killing. They’ve also circulated a petition, which has received over 700 signatures, questioned the decision to clear Woodcook of wrongdoing by the Valley County Prosecutor’s Office and asked Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts to instead use the Attorney General’s Office to conduct an “unbiased third-party review” of the shooting.

As with all police shootings in the Treasure Valley, a neighboring law enforcement agency — in this case, the Boise Police Department — investigated the shooting by conducting interviews, gathering evidence and forwarding that information to the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office. There, it was sent to an outside prosecutor, who would decide whether to pursue criminal charges against the officers. The prosecutor’s office chooses which outside prosecutor’s office reviews police shootings.

Valley County Prosecutor Brian Naugle concluded that the shooting was justified, and the Sheriff’s Office said the officers involved didn’t violate any internal policies, the Statesman previously reported.

The Banachs sent Bennetts the petition and a letter in March. In response, Bennetts told the parents that the Valley County Prosecutor’s Office did a “comprehensive and thorough review,” according to documents provided to the Statesman by the Banachs.

“We consider this case closed,” Bennetts wrote in an April email.