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Baltimore police officer charged in killing of stepson ordered held without bail

The Baltimore police officer charged with murdering his stepson will remain behind bars.

Eric Banks Jr., who was charged Wednesday with first- and second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse, was denied bail on Thursday.

Police found his 15-year-old stepson, Dasan Jones, dead inside Banks’ Anne Arundel County home last week when they went to check on his welfare after his mother called them, concerned that Banks wasn’t letting him leave the house.

Banks was arrested and charged at the time with first- and second-degree assault after he “became combative and tried to disarm” an officer, the county police said.

Medical examiners ruled the cause of the death as asphyxiation.

Banks is suspended without pay.

Anne Arundel schools approve ‘healthier’ start times for students

High schoolers in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, will get an extra hour of sleep next year, while students in the county’s elementary schools will lose half an hour, as part of a new plan to adjust start and dismissal times for the 2022-2023 school year. The Anne Arundel County Board of Education unanimously voted to approve the plan on Wednesday. The impetus behind the move is the growing consensus that high school students are not getting enough sleep because schools start too early.
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