Man handed two life sentences in murders of Baltimore Police officer Keona Holley, Justin Johnson
BALTIMORE -- A man convicted of the 2021 ambush murders of a man and Baltimore police officer Keona Holley was handed two consecutive life sentences Tuesday.
Elliot Knox was found guilty in March on eight of nine counts, including first-degree murder and murder conspiracy in the shootings of Holley and Justin Johnson. Jurors concluded there was not enough evidence to prove he pulled the trigger against Officer Holley.
Holley was on the clock sitting in her patrol car in the Curtis Bay neighborhood on December 16 when she was shot to death. Ninety minutes later there was a similar ambush-style killing of Johnson while he was in his car in Yale Heights.
The second person charged in the murders is Travon Shaw, whose trial was separate from Knox's. He was sentenced to life for both murders.
When WJZ spoke with the victims' families after the verdict back in March, they said they still want to know why Knox carried out the shootings.
"No one wakes up in the morning and says, 'Let me go kill a police officer,'" Lawanda Sykes, Holley's sister, said in March. "No one wakes up in the morning and says, 'Well, after we kill this police officer, let's go across town and take someone's son.' No one wakes up in the morning and says those things. Someone sent them to do it."
Johnson was a father of five children.
"I'm thankful to the jury for coming back with the verdict they came back with," said Justina Lawrence, Johnson's mother. "But nothing's going to bring my son back."
Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan Bates released a statement on the sentencing, saying in part, "Today's sentencing of Elliot Knox conveys an unequivocal message that acts of violence, which have afflicted our communities, will not be tolerated. Especially acts that seek to harm or malign the women and men who serve our city honorably. My heart continues to be with the families as they work to heal, and I hope today's sentence has brought a measure of closure for them."