Carla Hughes, a disgraced Chastain Middle School language arts teacher, was convicted of two counts of capital murder in October 2009 in connection with the killing of her lover's fiance Avis Banks, and her unborn child. Although Hughes initially faced the death penalty, jurors handed her two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
According to Forensic Files Now, Carla Hughes is currently serving time at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility for Women in Pearl, Rankin County.
Avis Banks was five months pregnant when her fiance (Hughes' colleague from school and secret lover) Keyon Pittman found her dead in the garage of their Ridgeland, Mississippi home. The mother-to-be was shot at least four times in the head, leg, and chest and had multiple stab wounds. Her throat was also slashed.
Banks' murder case is slated to feature on ID's American Monster in an episode titled With Honors, airing this Friday, May 19, at 7 pm ET. The synopsis for the upcoming episode reads:
"Book smart Avis Banks always puts her career ahead of her love life, until she meets handsome teacher Keyon Pittman. But just when she's on the brink of having it all, a dirty secret tears them apart in the most brutal way possible."
Disgraced middle school teacher Carla Hughes was handed two consecutive life sentences for murdering pregnant Avis banks
In October 2009, Carla Hughes, a former Chastain Middle School language arts teacher, was convicted of capital murder in the November 2006 slaying of Avis Banks and her unborn child in a highly publicized case.
The same year, Hughes was sentenced in Madison County Circuit Court to two consecutive life sentences without parole on two counts of capital murder. Forensic Files Now reported that Carla Hughes is serving two consecutive life sentences at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility for Women in Pearl, Rankin County.
According to the prosecution, Hughes killed Banks to be with her fiancé, Keyon Pittman. Hughes and Pittman shared a s*xual relationship that started in August 2009.
The two met as teachers at Jackson's Chastain Middle School, where Pittman worked as a basketball coach. Banks had reportedly just returned home from a daycare center that evening when she was ambushed in the garage.
The 27-year-old mother-to-be was found by Pittman lying in a pool of blood. Medical testimony stated that she was shot four times in the leg, chest, and head, and then stabbed multiple times in the face and neck as she lay dying.
The prosecution alleged that "she [Carla Hughes] took Avis Banks' life and the life of her unborn child because she wanted that life."
Carla Hughes' defense tried to pin the blame on Keyon Pittman, painting him as a womanizer
The fiance Keyon Pittman, who admitted having an affair with Carla Hughes, was initially suspected but later proved to be a crucial witness for the prosecution.
Pittman claimed he started seeing Hughes a month after learning his fiancé was pregnant. The two often met at Hughes' house and even traveled out of town together. He maintained that their relationship was only s*xual from his end.
The defense, however, maintained Hughes' innocence throughout the trial and tried to put the blame on Pittman by painting him as a womanizer who wanted to avoid parenting responsibilities. Meanwhile, prosecutors claimed that they were unable to link Pittman to the crime.
Prosecutors also asserted that Hughes was implicated in the crime because of the murder weapons. The weekend before Avis Banks' slaying, the accused's cousin claimed, he provided her with a knife and a loaded .38 caliber revolver.
After her initial interview with police, Hughes returned the rifle to her cousin unloaded. Ballistics testing was able to link the bullets used to shoot Banks to that weapon.
Learn more about Avis Banks' murder on the upcoming episode of American Monster on ID this Friday.