DNA identifies second victim in Virginia double homicide, four indicted

DNA analysis did more than identify Caroline County’s second homicide victim. It gave investigators a name, Helen Marie Pullen Banks, 56, and helped turn an already active murder case into a double-homicide investigation that now has four defendants facing first-degree murder charges.

A Caroline County grand jury indicted Devonti Gregory Pettaway, 20; Kennady Jade Lambert, 18; Rashad Antonio Mayfield, 23; and Jaden Lamont Phillips, 19, in Banks’ killing. The indictment added charges of first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and conspiracy to commit murder, deepening a case that had already centered on the death of 18-year-old Jayden McComber of Hopewell.

Banks’ remains were found in Caroline County in late March 2026 and were in poor condition, according to sheriff’s officials. The Medical Examiner’s Office in Richmond confirmed her identity on July 7 after extensive DNA analysis. Banks was originally from Culpeper and had been living in the Richmond area, where family members said she was in rehab when she went missing. She was a mother of five and grandmother of six.

Investigators said the two deaths were linked early in the probe, and the forensic connection changed what might have looked like separate crimes into one connected case. Sheriff Scott Moser said the body appeared to have been brought into Caroline County from another jurisdiction, raising the possibility of cross-jurisdictional activity. Chief Deputy Travis Nutter said there was no evidence of an argument or disagreement between Banks and the suspects.

McComber was killed first, investigators said, and robbery appeared to be the motive in his death. Authorities have not established a motive for Banks’ killing. The four suspects had already been charged in McComber’s death before the Banks indictment, and local coverage said they were being held without bond when the new charges were announced.

The case widened across central and eastern Virginia after McComber’s truck was found in Virginia Beach, about 100 miles from his home in Hopewell, and the four suspects were arrested in Henrico County on April 2 with help from the U.S. Marshals Service. The new indictment added eight charges tied to Banks’ death, while investigators continued to piece together how the two victims, found miles apart in life and linked in death, ended up at the center of the same homicide file.