LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — A 41-year-old Leavenworth, Kansas, woman pleaded guilty to killing her fiancé in 2021 and faces up to 10 years in prison.

Eva Oliva Banks was convicted on one county of voluntary manslaughter of Jerrold Jermaine Rhodes on June 12, 2021.

On that day, Leavenworth Police Department officers were called by Banks to a home in the 2500 block of 4th Avenue. Banks told police her fiancé had been stabbed.

Police found Rhodes and Banks in the master bedroom. Rhodes had a stab wound in his abdomen.

Emergency crews attempted life-saving measures but were unsuccessful.

At first, Banks told police the couple had an argument at the store and left separately. When she returned home, she found him stabbed.

In a later interview during the investigation, Banks admitted to stabbing Rhodes, because he would beat her.

Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said the state of Kansas does not accept “battered woman’s syndrome” as a defense to a homicide, unless there was an imminent deadly danger.

“There was no evidence in this case that Eva Banks was facing an imminent threat at the time of the stabbing, but evidence of this history can be considered by our office in either charging or in resolving a case ahead of trial,” Thompson said. “This case is a perfect example of why domestic violence should not be viewed by our community as a private family matter. It is a social, economic and public health concern and reporting incidences of domestic violence is critical to our community’s safety.”

Banks is scheduled to be sentenced on December 14, 2022.