Cartersville Resident Charged In 15-Year-Old Killing Of Acworth Friend

CARTERSVILLE, GA — A Cartersville man was arrested in connection with the killing of his friend 15 years ago, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Monday.

The GBI said Lance Jay Banister, 20, of Acworth, was killed in March 2008. Banister's body was found on March 28, 2008, in Talking Rock Creek/Carters Lake in Chatsworth, three weeks after he had been reported missing, the GBI said.

Authorities did not say how Banister was killed but noted the GBI's medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.

Shannon Tapley, 43, who was arrested on March 5, was with Banister the day he disappeared, the GBI said.

Tapley is being charged on suspicion of murder and is being held in the Bartow County Jail, the GBI said.

The investigation was a joint effort between detectives with the Murray County Sheriff’s Office, FBI special agents from the Dalton Safe Streets Task Force, detectives with the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office and GBI agents.