Banning Police release ‘wanted’ poster, issue reward for triple murder

Six months after a triple homicide in Banning, the city is offering a reward to help spur leads.

Banning Police have also released a Wanted posted featuring the pictures of the three victims to generate renewed interest in the case.

In addition, the victim’s family members are also asking for the public’s help.

There were four homicides recorded in Banning in 2011. Three of them happened on Sept. 6th.

Natasha Biggers, 33, and Cynthia Smith, 57, were killed in a two-story home on North Philips Avenue, which is where Demetirus Earl Hunt, 42, lived. He was also found dead.

“Our family? They hurt,” said Purvis Hunt, the victim’s father. “I’m hurt, but I can’t afford to run around and mope about it. My child is gone.”

Purvis Hunt was on the scene shortly after learning his son Demitrius was killed.

Demetirus’ 2-year-old son was found bound and gagged in a bathroom, but he survived despite dehydration.

Hunt said he knew right away that it would take some time for the crime to be solved, but he said Police Chief Leonard Purvis has his full support.

“Purvis is pretty smart. He knows what he’s doing. He’s just sitting back, and he knows the pressure’s building up,” said Purvis Hunt. “The Banning City Council, they understand if we let this get through, there’ll be others in our city.”

On Tuesday, the Banning City Council unanimously approving a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects involved in the triple homicide.

The money will come from salary savings in the police department budget, according to Leonard Purvis, who said detectives are working on at least 100 tips, but none concrete enough to break the case.

“This was a vicious crime,” said Purvis. “We want people to know that we are taking this case very seriously.”

Still, a possible motive has not been released, and authorities won’t say how the victims were killed, either.

Purvis Hunt said his son was a known drug dealer, and believes the case is gang-related, but the police chief won’t confirm.

“We need to be able to hold back certain key pieces of information and evidence, just in case we do get somebody in custody. We need to be able to build that strong case and not have it tainted in anyway,” said Leonard Purvis.

“When you have fear, you have control,” said Purvis Hunt. “But there’s one thing about fear — its like pressure in a pipe. Too much and something [has to] give, and that’s what the Banning [police are] working on.”

Please call the Banning police detective bureau with any information that could help solve this crime at (951) 849-1194 and ask for Sgt. Diaz.