A Texas man who works for the Department of Justice is facing multiple charges, including capital murder, after allegedly giving his pregnant girlfriend an abortion-inducing drug in secret, causing her to miscarry.
According to the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, 38-year-old Justin Banta learned his then-girlfriend of approximately one month was pregnant in September 2024. He later told her he had ordered “Plan C” for her, but the woman, whose name has not been made public, informed him she intended to keep the baby.
During a sonogram in Weatherford on Oct. 16 when she was about six weeks pregnant, the unborn child appeared healthy.
The same day, Banta told the woman “he had a change of heart and wanted to meet.”
At a Black Rifle Coffee Company shop in Benbrook in Tarrant County, security footage shows Banta giving the woman a beverage purchased before her arrival.
A day after consuming the entire beverage, the woman began experiencing pain, fatigue and continuous, heavy bleeding. She went to an emergency room the following day and a new sonogram found her uterus was filled with a large amount of blood and the unborn child’s heartbeat had slowed. She experienced a miscarriage the next day.
She told the Benbrook Police Department she suspected Banta had drugged her beverage. The case was then transferred to the PCSO with support from the Texas Rangers.
When Banta tried to meet with the woman again, he was met by law enforcement and he agreed to interview.
He told investigators he purchased “Plan C” pills and handed over his cellphone, which officers asked him to put in airplane mode. The next morning he asked to use the phone to get some information from the device. When he handed it back to police, it was no longer in airplane mode, had been reset and could not be searched. Investigators suspect Banta of “deleting crucial evidence related to the case.”
Banta, “who works at the IT Department of the U.S. Department of Justice,” according to the PCSO, later denied resetting the phone remotely or otherwise.
He’s been charged with murder by the Texas Rangers in Tarrant County and tampering with evidence in Parker County. He was booked last Friday and released on bond the same day.
“The cases against Banta remain active and are awaiting prosecution,” the PCSO said.