Days after gunfire and violence broke out at a huge New Year’s Eve party in downtown Los Angeles, killing two people and wounding eight others, the family of one of the victims is speaking out.
Police responded to the shooting, which occurred at around 1 a.m. Monday at 2350 Porter Street at a warehouse hosting what has been described as an “underground” New Year’s Eve party.
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Officers at the scene formed a skirmish line as a crowd of people formed outside the building.
It’s not clear why the shooting started, or if any weapons were recovered at the scene. No suspects are in custody.
Miah Banks, a 26-year-old hairstylist from Azusa, was one of two people who died after the gunfire broke out at the crowded party.
Banks had come to the party with her cousin, who did not want to be named, and her best friend, 25-year-old Lanise Harris.
Harris described the moment when the first shots rang out.
“I grabbed my best friend, we took four steps, and we laid on the floor. [The suspects] kept shooting. When he stopped shooting, I tried to get up and run, and grab [Miah],” Harris said through sobs. “When I grabbed her, she didn’t jump up.”
Harris said that she waited for paramedics and police officers to enter the warehouse for more than half an hour, laying on the floor with Banks while stopping a flow of blood coming from her neck. Harris herself was shot in the hand. The LAPD could not immediately verify how long it took first responders to enter.
Banks’ mother, Markesha Cummings, said that her daughter was popular and well-loved. She had been working as a hairstylist since her teenage years, often booking appointments in the early morning hours just to get through her long list of clients.
Markesha said that Banks wasn’t even really a partier — she had worked hard, and she wanted to celebrate the new year.
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“She worked so much,” Cummings said. “I didn’t even think she was going to go out.”
Banks left behind a large family, including an 8-year-old daughter, Ami, who is now being cared for by her grandmother. The family shared photos of Banks and Ami, wearing matching Christmas pajamas, smiling at each other under decorations.
“How are we supposed to explain this to her daughter? All her daughter asks, ‘How could they do this to my mommy?’” Cummings said. “I had to explain that they didn’t intentionally do this to her. It was a random act of violence that she was caught in.”
Banks had a sister, too, who was released from prison just hours before the party.
“We didn’t want to tell her in the car,” Cummings said. “She entered the house and asked where her sister was.”
Cummings said that Banks is the second person her family has lost to gun violence.
“My heart is so broken. It’s very broken,” Cummings said. “It’s so broken that I don’t know if it can be fixed at this point.”
Cummings said she wants to focus on remembering her daughter, helping her family pick up the pieces, and waiting for the suspects to be caught. Police have not released a description of those suspects — and it’s unclear how many people opened fire in the first place.
“I’m mad. I’m sad. I don’t want to blame anybody, but it’s what we do when we lose somebody when we’re heartbroken,” Cummings said.
An investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Anyone with information is encouraged to call Detective Howarth, of the LAPD’s Operations-Central Bureau Homicide office, at 213-996-4143, or 877-LAPD-247. Tipsters may also call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS, or use the website www.lacrimestoppers.org.
Monday’s eruption of gunfire was the first mass shooting of 2024, according to the Gun Violence Archive.