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| {{Short description|2021 double murder in Baltimore, Maryland}} | |||
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| | title = Murders of Keona Holley and Justin Johnson | |||
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| | caption1 = The park where Holley was murdered in 2024. A ] U.S. flag and flowers commemorate her. | |||
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| | caption2 = A 1997 ], similar to the one Johnson was murdered in. | |||
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| | mark-title1 = Murder of Holley | |||
| | mark-coord1 = {{Coord|39.225671|-76.588499|type:event_region:US-MD}} | |||
| | mark-image1 = Scene of Keona Holley's murder.jpg | |||
| | mark-description1 = Around 1:35 a.m., Holley was ambushed from behind in her patrol car. Her car then crashed into a park ''(pictured)''. | |||
| | mark-title2 = Murder of Johnson | |||
| | mark-coord2 = {{Coord|39.273342|-76.692141|type:event_region:US-MD}} | |||
| | mark-image2 = 97 Lincoln Town Car (7811357722).jpg | |||
| | mark-description2 = Around 3:07 a.m., Johnson was shot while sitting in his 1997 ] ''(similar car pictured)''. | |||
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| | location = {{ubl|], ]|Lucia Avenue, ]}} | |||
| | coordinates = {{ubl|{{coord|39.225671|-76.588499|display=inline|type:event_region:US-MD}}|{{coord|39.273342|-76.692141|display=inline|type:event_region:US-MD}}}} | |||
| | date = {{start date|2021|12|16}} | |||
| | time-begin = 1:35{{nbsp}}a.m. | |||
| | time-end = 3:07{{nbsp}}a.m. | |||
| | timezone = ] | |||
| | type = Shooting | |||
| | fatalities = 2 | |||
| | perpetrators = {{ubl|Elliot Knox{{efn|Early sources also wrote Knox's name as "Elliott".<ref name="Costello et al. 2021">{{Cite news |last1=Costello |first1=Darcy |last2=Fenton |first2=Justin |author-link2=Justin Fenton |date=December 24, 2021 |title=Baltimore Officer Keona Holley dies one week after being shot in ambush |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2021/12/24/baltimore-officer-keona-holley-dies-one-week-after-being-shot-in-ambush/? |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 17, 2024 |work=]}}</ref><ref name="Fenton 2021">{{Cite news |last=Fenton |first=Justin |author-link=Justin Fenton |date=December 20, 2021 |title=Man charged with shooting Baltimore officer visited with family of second victim after killing, sister says |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2021/12/20/man-charged-with-shooting-baltimore-officer-visited-with-family-of-second-victim-after-killing-sister-says/ |url-access=subscription |work=]}}</ref><ref name="Fenton et al. 2021">{{Cite news |last1=Fenton |first1=Justin |author-link=Justin Fenton |last2=Anderson |first2=Jessica |last3=Prudente |first3=Tim |date=December 17, 2021 |title=Two suspects charged in shooting of Baltimore Officer Holley; police say they also killed man later that morning |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-cr-suspects-charged-holley-shooting-20211217-dz7ewl7w5nbxdfc5ci7affhi5a-story.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 17, 2024 |work=]}}</ref>|name=Knox}}|Travon Shaw}} | |||
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| | verdict = {{ubl|Knox: Guilty on eight of nine counts|Shaw: Guilty on all counts}} | |||
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| In the early morning of December 16, 2021, '''Keona Holley''', a 39-year-old officer with the ], and '''Justin Johnson''', a 38-year-old, were fatally ] in two shootings one and a half hours apart in the ] and ] neighborhoods of ], respectively. Holley had served the department since 2019, previously being employed at the ], a psychiatric hospital in ].{{Efn|Reports conflict on Holley's position at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital; while her friends claimed she was a ] assistant, officials reported that she worked security at the hospital.<ref name="Costello et al. 2021" />|name=hospital}} The perpetrators were identified as Elliot Knox{{efn|name=Knox}} and Travon Shaw, two 34-year-olds. Both perpetrators had previously been imprisoned for armed robbery, the latter being set to go on trial for a firearms charge four months after the shooting. | |||
| Johnson was declared ], while Holley was sent to the ], remaining on ] for a week, being removed on December 23 and declared dead soon after. After the shooting, ] identified Knox's car, and he was questioned. While he initially claimed his car was stolen, he later admitted he was at the scenes of the murders, but was not involved in either. He led detectives to a backpack in his house which contained the guns used, a ] and an ]-style ], and several accessories; DNA evidence on the pistol matched with both Knox and Shaw. Knox was found guilty on eight of nine ] in March 2024, with Shaw being found guilty on all counts in Johnson and Holley's killings in October 2023 and March 2024, respectively. Holley was the first Baltimore police officer to be killed on duty since ], a detective implicated in the ] scandal, who died in 2017. | |||
| == Background == | |||
| {{stack|]}} | |||
| Keona Holley (1981 or 1982{{snd}}December 23, 2021), also known as "KeKe" and the "Mom from the West Side",<ref name="Costello et al. 2021" /> worked her first job at a ] in ] at the age of 16, before pursuing a healthcare career.<ref name="'That was KeKe': Baltimore Pol...">{{Cite news |last=Condon |first=Christine |date=January 9, 2022 |title='That was KeKe': Baltimore Police Officer Keona Holley, fatally shot in her patrol car, remembered during viewing |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2022/01/09/that-was-keke-baltimore-police-officer-keona-holley-fatally-shot-in-her-patrol-car-remembered-during-viewing/? |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 17, 2024 |work=]}}</ref> She had been employed at the ], a psychiatric hospital in ],{{Efn||name=hospital}} before leaving in 2019 and joining the ] (BPD) academy, claiming her motive for joining the department was bringing change to an embattled department, serving her second year as an officer at the time of the shooting.<ref name="Lu 2021">{{Cite news |last=Lu |first=Amy |date=December 24, 2021 |title=Police: Baltimore officer injured in ambush shooting dies |url=https://www.wbaltv.com/article/baltimore-police-officer-keona-holley-shot-dies/38549233 |access-date=March 19, 2024 |work=]}}</ref> She attended ] in southwestern Baltimore and had four children as well as one grandchild.<ref name="Lewis et al. 2021">{{Cite news |last1=Louis |first1=Billy Jean |last2=Anderson |first2=Jessica |date=December 16, 2021 |title=Two years after joining Baltimore Police to make a difference, Officer Keona Holley is fighting for her life |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2021/12/16/two-years-after-joining-baltimore-police-to-make-a-difference-officer-keona-holley-is-fighting-for-her-life/? |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 17, 2024 |work=]}}</ref><ref name="Mann et al. 2024" /> | |||
| {{blockquote|I didn’t want to be a Baltimore police officer before. I feel like Baltimore city police officers have a bad name about themselves. We have to change that, and change it together. The community needs Baltimore city police officers that’s{{sic}} not just here for a paycheck. They’re here because they care.|Holley, 2020<ref name="Costello et al. 2021" /><ref name="Lewis et al. 2021" />}} | |||
| Justin Johnson was born in 1993 or 1994, the fourth of seven children. Johnson had five children, who were aged one to 18, at the time of his death.<ref name="Fenton 2021" /><ref name="Mann et al. 2024" /> | |||
| Elliot M. Knox{{efn|name=Knox}} and Travon Shaw, the two perpetrators, were both born in 1989 or 1990.<ref name="Mann et al. 2024">{{Cite news |last1=Mann |first1=Alex |last2=Mullan |first2=Dillon |last3=Costello |first3=Darcy |date=March 6, 2024 |title=Baltimore jury finds man guilty of murder in killings of Officer Keona Holley, second victim |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/03/06/keona-holley-verdict-elliot-knox-murder-trial/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 6, 2024 |work=]}}</ref> At the time of the murder, Shaw was set to go on trial, in March 2022, on a March 2020 firearms charge in ], being convicted of assault and armed robbery in 2006. In the same year, Knox, who was then 16 years old, was convicted of three armed robberies and sentenced to 15 years in prison. While serving his sentence at the ], Knox sued the state of Maryland as well as corrections officers, claiming he was assaulted in prison. According to records, the case was ], although the terms of the settlement are unknown.<ref name="Fenton 2021" /><ref name="Fenton et al. 2021" /> | |||
| == Shootings == | |||
| Around 1:35{{nbsp}}a.m. ] on December 16, 2021, Holley, who was working ] in the ] neighborhood of ], was ambushed and shot while in her ]. After being shot, her car rolled across the 4400 block of ], going through a fence before going over an embankment into a park. She was shot twice in the back of the head, damaging her brain and neck.<ref name="Lu 2021" /><ref name="Mann et al. 2024" /><ref name="Mann 2024a">{{Cite news |last=Mann |first=Alex |date=February 28, 2024 |title=Confession in Baltimore Officer Holley murder case provides new details, fails to answer biggest mystery: Why? |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/02/28/confession-in-baltimore-officer-holley-murder-case-provides-new-details-fails-to-answer-biggest-mystery-why/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 7, 2024 |work=]}}</ref> Holley was sent to the ], where she was put on life support and described by a doctor as "critically ill".<ref name="Lewis et al. 2021" /> | |||
| Around 3{{nbsp}}a.m. the same day, in the neighborhood of ], Johnson, who was sitting in his 1997 ] in the 600 block of Lucia Avenue, was shot six times in the back, damaging his spine, lungs, and heart. He was pronounced ].<ref name="Mann 2024a" /><ref name="Mann et al. 2024" /> | |||
| == Aftermath == | |||
| Following Holley's shooting, detectives found that a nearby ] had detected the tag of a silver 2012 Hyundai which was registered to Knox. Nearby ]s showed Knox's car park around the block from Holley's patrol car. Two men walked out of the car towards Holley's car before running back to Knox's car.<ref name="Mann et al. 2024" /><ref name="Fenton et al. 2021" /> | |||
| In a Baltimore Police Department interview room, Knox waived his ], initially maintaining that his car was stolen and that he was not involved in either of the murders. After two hours, he walked back these claims, admitting that he was at the scene of the shootings, but continuing that Shaw shot Holley and Johnson. He said that Shaw killed Johnson because he owed him {{US$|100|link=yes}} and that Shaw said he was going to "holler" at Johnson, however, he had no idea why Shaw killed Holley, bursting into tears in the interview room.<ref name="Mann 2024a" /><ref name="Mann et al. 2024" /><ref name="Mann 2024c" /> | |||
| Knox led investigators to a house in the ] community, where a ] and an ]-style ], the guns used in the shooting, were stored in two backpacks in a bedroom closet, alongside gloves, masks, ]s, boxes of bullets, and a gun cleaning kit.<ref name="Mann 2024a" /><ref name="Fenton et al. 2021" /> The ] casings at both scenes and a ] casing at the scene of Johnson's shooting matched up with the Glock 22 and AR-style pistol, respectively. ] on the pistol also matched to Knox and Shaw.<ref name="Mann et al. 2024" /><ref name="Mann 2024b">{{Cite news |last=Mann |first=Alex |date=February 29, 2024 |title=Police firearms examiner, DNA analyst testify in murder trial for Baltimore Officer Holley, second victim |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/02/29/baltimore-officer-keona-holley-murder-experts-testify/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 17, 2024 |work=]}}</ref> | |||
| ] speaking at Holley's funeral.]] | |||
| A vigil for Holley, who was at the time on life support, was held by community members on December 22, where they prayed that Holley would recover from her injuries.<ref name="'That was KeKe': Baltimore Pol..." /> According to a BPD press release, Holley was taken off life support on the next day, a week after being shot, being pronounced dead soon after. Several city and state officials, including then-] of the Baltimore Police Department ], Governor of Maryland ], then-] for Baltimore ], and Mayor of Baltimore ], offered their condolences, with Hogan saying that "our hearts are broken" over the loss of Holley, while Scott said that "Baltimore will never forget Officer Holley’s sacrifice and commitment to making a difference in her beloved city". She was the first BPD officer to be killed in the line of duty since ], a detective implicated in the ] scandal, who was shot in 2017, a day before he was set to go on trial.<ref name="Costello et al. 2021" /> | |||
| A judge ordered Knox to be held without bail on December 20. Rumors spread on ] that Knox had been related to a man that Holley had previously helped arrest; an investigation by ] found that while Holley had been listed as a witness during the arrest of attempted murder suspect Eddie Knox, he was going through Baltimore on a ] bus, was from ], and had no known ties to Elliot.<ref name="Fenton 2021" /> | |||
| === Trials === | |||
| Shaw was charged with ], ] to commit murder, and firearm offenses in both murders. He was convicted on all ]s in Johnson's killing in October 2023,<ref name="Mann et al. 2024" /><ref name="Mann 2024b" /> pleading guilty on all counts in Holley's killing on March 28, 2024. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years without the possibility of ] on the same day.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mann |first=Alex |date=March 28, 2024 |title=Man pleads guilty in Baltimore Officer Holley murder, is sentenced to life |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/03/28/officer-holley-murder-sentencing/ |access-date=May 9, 2024 |work=]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Dickstein |first=Ryan |date=March 29, 2024 |title=Man sentenced to life for ambush style murder of BPD officer Keona Holley |url=https://www.wmar2news.com/local/man-sentenced-to-life-for-murder-of-bpd-officer-keona-holley |access-date=March 9, 2024 |work=]}}</ref> | |||
| Kurt Bjorklund, an assistant State's Attorney, claimed that Holley was killed in a hit and that Knox initially lied because he knew he had been caught. He also cited the fact that three of Johnson's gunshot wounds were on each side of his back as supporting both Knox and Shaw's involvement. He also cited a clause in Maryland law, in which a person can be convicted for a crime even if they did not commit it if it could be proven that they "aided, counseled, commanded or encouraged" a crime to make it happen or if they voiced their intent to give support to the criminal. Natalie Finegar, Knox's attorney, said to jurors that Knox's story that Shaw performed the murders could not be disproven by the prosecution and that he may be telling the truth, however, he was still guilty of illegal possession of a firearm and being an ] to murder, a crime he was not charged with. She countered Bjorklund's claim that the murder was a hit, saying that Knox was not a hitman, but "a person who got caught up in a very bad situation and made some very bad decisions".<ref name="Mann et al. 2024" /><ref name="Mann 2024c">{{Cite news |last=Mann |first=Alex |date=March 4, 2024 |title=Jury deliberations to continue Tuesday in trial of man charged with killing Baltimore Officer Holley, second victim |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/03/04/baltimore-officer-holley-murder-trial-closing-arguments-elliot-knox/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 17, 2024 |work=]}}</ref><ref name="Mann 2024b" /> | |||
| {{quotebox| committed a senseless and heinous act against a Baltimore Police Department officer, and it is my hope that this verdict brings a sense of closure and peace to Officer Keona Holley’s family, friends, co-workers and loved ones.|], ]<ref name="Mann et al. 2024" />|width=300px}} | |||
| On March 6, 2024, following almost two days of ], Knox was found guilty on eight of nine counts, including two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. However, he was acquitted of using a firearm to kill Holley. The verdict was celebrated by ], Mosby's replacement as ] for Baltimore, as well as police officials, such as ], Harrison's replacement as ], and Mike Mancuso, the president of the Baltimore ].<ref name="Mann et al. 2024" /> Knox was sentenced to two ] without the possibility of parole on June 4.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davila |first=Alexus |last2=Albert |first2=Jessica |date=June 5, 2024 |title=Man handed two life sentences in murders of Baltimore Police officer Keona Holley, Justin Johnson |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/eliot-knox-baltimore-police-officer-keona-holley-justin-johnson-murder-sentencing/ |access-date=August 14, 2024 |work=]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Segelbaum |first=Dylan |date=June 4, 2024 |title=Man gets life without parole for killing two, including Baltimore Police Officer Keona Holley |url=https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/criminal-justice/elliot-knox-sentencing-first-degree-murder-baltimore-police-officer-keona-holley-justin-johnson-PYV7OPGVHFGOLNH2ULS2BB4QGU/ |access-date=August 14, 2024 |work=]}}</ref> | |||
| == Notes == | |||
| {{Notelist}} | |||
| == References == | |||
| {{Reflist}} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT: Holley, Keona and Johnson, Justin}} | |||
| {{Baltimore Police Department}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||