May 21, 2025 By Mike Jones 5 min read

A key witness in a capital murder case in Donora four years ago is suing Washington County’s district attorney and former president judge, claiming they coerced her into cooperating with investigators by placing an ankle monitor on her after she reluctantly testified at a hearing for the two shooting suspects.

The attorney for Anitra Banks filed the federal lawsuit last month naming District Attorney Jason Walsh and Judge John DiSalle, accusing them of false imprisonment after they threatened to hold her in contempt of court following the Aug. 9, 2021, hearing at the Washington County Courthouse.

Banks was called to testify against Sidney Devon McLean and Devell Dexter Christian, who are accused of shooting and killing 28-year-old Nicholas Tarpley while he made a sandwich for a customer at Anna Lee’s Convenience Store in Donora on Feb. 24, 2021.

Trooper Adam Janosko testified at the preliminary hearing that Banks was Christian’s “on-and-off” girlfriend, and said she identified both suspects during a police interview after watching surveillance video of the two shooters entering the convenience store, according to a story that appeared in the Observer-Reporter the following day.

“That’s Sid. That’s Devell,” Janosko relayed what Banks told him during the police interview.

But when Banks was called to the witness stand a few minutes later, she appeared to be nervous and even broke down in tears as she was sworn-in to testify. She was then evasive when questioned by Walsh, who was serving as first assistant district attorney at the time.

“He never told me he participated in it,” Banks testified about Christian. “People thought it was him.”

That prompted Christian’s attorney, Ken Haber, to ask Banks if she felt “pressured” and “coerced” to testify by investigators, which she said she did.

“The same thing they did to me that day, they’re doing now,” Banks said, apparently alluding to the original police interview.

Banks was then ushered from the courtroom by police detectives, although Walsh at the time declined to say whether she was being taken into custody. But according to the federal lawsuit filed April 26 by attorney Noah Geary, she was immediately taken into a neighboring courtroom and put before DiSalle, who was president judge at the time, as Walsh demanded she be held in contempt for how she testified minutes earlier.

“Immediately upon the conclusion of the hearing, and despite all charges being held for court, defendant Walsh, dissatisfied with the plaintiff’s answers as a witness, became enraged and directed one of his detectives from the Washington County District Attorney’s Office to immediately place the plaintiff, a witness, in handcuffs, behind her back,” the lawsuit states.

Walsh then requested that DiSalle hold Banks in contempt of court despite no contempt petition being drafted or served to her “to defend against whatever Walsh was angry about,” according to the lawsuit. Banks was apparently crying while handcuffed with her hands behind her back and denied the opportunity to speak to an attorney, the lawsuit states.

“Unbelievably, when the plaintiff asked for a lawyer, defendant Walsh told the plaintiff that he was her lawyer,” the lawsuit alleges. “Of course, this was totally false by Walsh and unethical to the extreme.”

DiSalle then apparently threatened to incarcerate Banks unless she “cooperated” with Walsh and promised to “do whatever” it took to help the prosecution convict the two shooting suspects, the lawsuit states. Despite appearing to testify at the preliminary hearing earlier that day and then promising to cooperate with investigators moving forward, DiSalle ordered that Banks be placed on house arrest with electronic home monitoring through a GPS device so Walsh would know her whereabouts, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states DiSalle’s action meant she was “illegally and falsely imprisoned/confined” from that August 2021 hearing until it was removed on April 27, 2023. Geary filed the federal lawsuit in Pittsburgh one day before the two-year statute of limitations would have expired from the latter date.

Geary has accused Walsh and DiSalle of having a history of this kind of collaboration, filing two other lawsuits against them for similar situations, including one in which a man was ordered to spend five days in the Washington County jail for contempt despite him invoking his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination in an unrelated case.

Reached for comment Tuesday morning, Walsh said he had not been served paperwork on the lawsuit and could not remember details of the particular case because it was “so long ago.” He also questioned Geary’s motives considering the multiple lawsuits the attorney has filed against him and DiSalle.

“I haven’t seen it,” Walsh said. “But knowing who filed it, it’s meritless for sure.”

DiSalle did not return a phone message seeking comment Tuesday.

Banks, 34, of Westmoreland County, is claiming in the lawsuit that her Fourth Amendment rights were violated, and she’s demanding punitive damages and attorney fees. The lawsuit, which names Walsh and DiSalle in their official capacities, claims neither is entitled to immunity because of how the contempt hearing was handled.

It’s not known if the federal lawsuit could impact the upcoming trials for McLean, 36, of McKeesport, and Christian, 35, of White Oak, both of whom are charged with homicide and could face the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder.

A third defendant, 29-year-old Jah Sutton of Homewood, is also charged with homicide after investigators said they found what is believed to be her DNA on a shell casing located at the scene, although no evidence has been presented that she was at the store during the shooting. Prosecutors are also pursuing the death penalty against her as well.

The three defendants, all of whom are jailed without bond, will be tried separately following a decision by Judge Traci McDonald in March to sever the three cases since Christian is also facing federal drug charges and unable to attend proceedings until that case is adjudicated.