Thompkins' murder trial continues on Monday
ALAMOGORDO – When Alamogordo Police Department officers first entered Jessica R. Thompkins and Phillip J. Banka home, 1501 N. Florida Ave., in 2015 to search for a possible active shooter, they thought the home was also on fire because of the amount of smoke inside of it.
APD officers would quickly realize that the heavy smoke in the air also smelled of gun powder then found Jessica R. Thompkins, 29, dead curled up on the floor next to bunkbeds where two of her small children were laying down and awake in one of the home’s bedrooms March 12, 2015.
Officers safely removed the uninjured children from the home.
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Jessica’s ex-husband Terrick L. Thompkins is being tried in 12th Judicial District Court for allegedly fatally shooting her and her boyfriend Phillip J. Banka in 2015.
Terrick’s trial started Monday.
Terrick is charged with two counts of first-degree felony murder, one count of first-degree felony child abuse (great bodily harm), one count of second-degree aggravated burglary, one count of second-degree shooting at a dwelling or occupied building and three counts of third-degree child abuse.
Otero County jurors would also her testimony in Terrick’s trial that officers would locate and remove a 9-year-old boy from the home who was not injured then discovered Banka, 33, dead in one of the other bedrooms inside the home.
Banka had barricaded himself behind the bedroom door with Jessica’s 12-year-old son then the boy climbed out of the bedroom window in fear of being shot and ran to a neighbor’s home for help. The boy was hit in the leg and torso by shrapnel during the fatal shooting incident.
He would be treated at Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center for his injuries then released.
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The state represented by Chief Deputy District Attorney Scot D. Key is contending that Terrick Thompkins planned the homicides because Terrick allegedly took a .223-caliber AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and a .45-caliber pistol then drove to his ex-wife Jessica’s home the night of March 12, 2015.
During the trial, jurors heard testimony that Terrick was upset over losing custody of his two children to Jessica. Terrick also had a blood alcohol level of .21 percent because he drank an unknown amount of Everclear liquor mixed with soda.
Terrick’s defense attorney Gary Mitchel contends Terrick, who is an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, suffers from PTSD, bipolar disorder and has diabetes.
Mitchel contends Terrick had a PTSD episode the evening of March 12, 2015.
Jurors also heard testimony that Terrick could not remember or blacked out during the shooting in which he allegedly fatally shot his ex-wife Jessica and her boyfriend Banka after shooting 32 rounds from his AR-15 rifle while inside the home.
APD officers arrested Terrick inside his home, 1207 N. Florida Ave., after a brief standoff with police.
With the state resting their case Friday morning, the defense will continue presenting their case Monday at 9 a.m. in Judge Steven Blankinship’s 12th Judicial District courtroom.