Murder of Baltimore officer Keona Holley: Elliot Knox sentenced to life

A man was sentenced Tuesday to serve two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for two deadly shootings that occurred within hours of each other in 2021 — including the killing of an on-duty Baltimore police officer.

Elliot Knox, 34, of Mount Holly, appeared for sentencing before Baltimore Circuit Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer on two counts of first-degree murder and related crimes.

On December 16, 2021, Knox fatally shot Officer Keona Holley, a two-year veteran, around 1:30 p.m. am as she sat in her patrol car on Pennington Avenue near Hazel Street in Curtis Bay, prosecutors allege. She died a week later at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Holley, 39, was a mother of four and joined the Baltimore Police Department to make a difference.

Later, Knox and Travon Shaw, prosecutors say, shot Justin Johnson, whom family members described as a 37-year-old father of five, around 3 a.m. as he sat in his Lincoln Town 1997 car on Lucia Avenue near Airy Hill. Avenue in Yale Heights.

Assistant State's Attorney Kurt Bjorklund requested two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole – plus 35 years in prison.

Shaw, 35, of Catonsville, is serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole – plus 20 years – for two counts of first-degree murder in the slayings.

Days before his sentencing, Knox sent the judge a lengthy prison manifesto that he had written over the preceding months. He claimed he was framed to be the man responsible for Holley's murder. With chapter headings and a glossary of gang jargon, he described a vast conspiracy that stretched from the leadership of the Black Guerrilla Family street gang to the mayor's office. His claims could not be corroborated.

He described himself as a “law-abiding citizen” and accused his lawyers of hiding evidence from him and preventing him from testifying.

His first lawyer, Chris Flohr, withdrew from the case last summer.

“I am concerned about your ability to act in your own best interest given that you told me over the phone that you were voluntarily stopping all of your psychiatric medications as well as acupuncture,” Flohr wrote to him. “I expressed my concerns about your decision during the phone call.”

This story will be updated.