Actress Lisa Banes spent decades building an impressive career on stage and screen, appearing in more than 80 movies and television shows.
But in June 2021, the Gone Girl star’s life came to a sudden and horrifying end on a New York City street.
Banes, 65, was visiting friends in Manhattan on June 4 when she attempted to cross Amsterdam Avenue near the Juilliard School.
As she walked through a marked intersection, authorities said an electric scooter rider blew through a red light and slammed into her.
The impact left Banes with a catastrophic brain injury.
But instead of stopping to help the badly injured actress, the rider allegedly sped away.
Banes was rushed to the hospital, where doctors fought to save her life. She died from her injuries 10 days later, on June 14.
The tragedy stunned Hollywood, where Banes had become a familiar face through roles in Gone Girl, Cocktail, Murder, She Wrote, Desperate Housewives, China Beach and numerous Broadway productions.
Authorities soon began hunting for the scooter rider responsible for the deadly crash.
Prosecutors later revealed that the man traveled roughly four miles after striking Banes and took his scooter to a shop in Upper Manhattan for repairs rather than returning to the scene or checking on the actress.
Nearly two months later, on Aug. 5, 2021, police arrested Brian Boyd, then 26, at his apartment near the area where Banes had been struck.
He was initially charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and failing to yield to a pedestrian. His bail was set at $30,000 cash or $100,000 bond.
Boyd later pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
On Nov. 30, 2022, he was sentenced to one to three years behind bars.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg condemned Boyd’s actions following the sentencing.
“Brian Boyd drove recklessly with no regard for pedestrians, fatally striking a beloved actress and New Yorker before speeding off to avoid accountability,” Bragg said.
He added that Banes would be remembered for the mark she left on New York through her work on Broadway and on screen.
Her sudden death also brought an outpouring of grief from friends and former co-stars.
Seth MacFarlane, who worked with Banes on The Orville, remembered her as an enormously talented performer whose kindness matched her abilities.
“A tremendous loss,” he wrote following her death.
Actress Dana Delany, who appeared alongside Banes on China Beach, also paid tribute.
“Terribly sad news about Lisa Banes,” Delany wrote, calling her a “consummate actor who commanded the stage.”
Banes’ career stretched across several decades, but her death at just 65 turned what should have been another visit to New York into an unthinkable tragedy — one made even more disturbing by the rider’s decision to flee as she lay critically injured.
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