Two people convicted in shooting death of Pleasanton Home Depot employee last year

It was a moment of deep realization mixed with deep sadness for Pleasanton resident Lorie Mohs and her family Thursday morning as she read her victim impact statement at the two's sentencing hearing individuals involved in the murder of his son.

For the first time in over a year, she had to declare the one thing she couldn't allow herself to say in an official capacity: her son, Blake Mohs, is dead and won't come back.

“Not saying my last goodbye or I love you to my son broke my heart. Telling my family that Blake had been shot was torture,” the grieving mother said in her statement at the Dublin court hearing on Thursday. “Walking these last 415 days without our son here on earth has left me brought a dark loneliness… writing my victim impact statement made me realize that my son was really gone.

She, her husband Eric Mohs, their son Matthew Labosky and Blake Mohs' best friend Matthew Ridings all gave their own victim impact statements during the sentencing hearing at the East County Hall of Justice in Dublin Thursday morning. Accompanied by other family members and friends, the group stood as the judge read the sentences of Benicia Knapps, 33, and David Guillory, 32, both involved in the murder.

Knapps, who pleaded no contest to a second-degree murder and firearm enhancement charge, was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison as part of a plea deal she reached with prosecutors charged with shooting and killing 26-year-old Blake Mohs. April 18, 2023. Guillory pleaded no contest to child abuse, complicity to commit robbery and eluding a police officer and was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison.

Both said nothing during sentencing. The Weekly attempted to contact his public defenders, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Blake Mohs was a loss prevention employee at Home Depot on Johnson Drive in Pleasanton who tried to stop Knapps as she tried to leave with a large yellow Dewalt box without paying, according to court documents. When Blake Mohs intervened, Knapps shot him and ran toward the getaway car driven by Guillory before the two men fled with their 21-month-old daughter in the vehicle.

According to previous court documents, Knapps told police she was holding the gun, but said she fired it accidentally. After leading police on a chase that ended in Oakland, the two men were arrested and have been in Santa Rita Jail ever since.

“I am still lost and devastated. (I am) barely able to convince myself of this new reality of a future without him,” Eric Mohs told the court. “I’m going to miss Blake. His smile, his laugh, his heart and his dedication to others were a bright light that this dark world really needed.

Initially, both defendants faced much more serious charges.

Knapps was initially charged with first-degree murder for the death of Blake Mohs, possession of a firearm by a felon and child abuse for detaining her 21-month-old daughter during the chase. Guillory was charged with four felonies: child abuse, accessory after the fact (knowledge of the crime) to a robbery, evading police with willful disregard for safety, and evading police by driving the wrong way.

But thanks to the plea deal, both men were able to avoid a more serious prison sentence — Knapps could have faced 25 years to life in prison for the first-degree murder charge.

Alameda County Judge Paul Delucchi even mentioned near the end of the hearing that while the family agreed with Thursday's ruling, he still had questions about the plea agreement.

“The sentence that's about to be imposed, I don't necessarily know if it's compassionate to the offense,” Delucchi said. “I know that on countless occasions if an offense like this were committed… the end result would be a life sentence without the possibility of parole, but I understand that is not on the table Today.”

But as the two defendants stood in the courtroom, Knapps repeatedly wiping away tears while other family members spoke, Lorie Mohs said her son would have wanted his parents to forgive the two individuals at name of their faith.

That's why she said from the start they knew they wanted to make a plea deal and not drag out the case by going to trial, which she said would only make her relive , as well as his family, the trauma of their loss.

“The accusations were never accurate in Blake's case, but our hearts have grown and changed through this process,” Lorie Mohs said. “We (began) looking at the net loss of what a trial will do to your family, to your faith, to your finances, to your community. »

She also said that a jury trial would also affect the defendant's families, which she did not want to see happen, and that seeking to further punish both defendants through a jury trial would not look like than revenge, which his son would not do. to want.

That's why she and her family were happy to put this behind them, not have to worry about the next court date and truly begin the healing process.

“Today was a long one for us,” she said. “It’s been a long journey.”

She even said after the hearing that she wanted to open a new chapter in her family's life where they become advocates for victims of violent deaths. Given all the local and national media attention she and her family have been receiving since her son's death, she thought it would be a good idea to form a sort of community where anyone who has been a victim of such a crime could come together. a group and being there for each other without having to worry about the attention that comes with such crimes.

She also said she wanted to consider creating a heart-shaped papier-mâché memorial for victims of violent crime. She's still looking for funding and locations — although until now her favorite spot has been right across the street from the courthouse because of her son's love of law enforcement.

“That’s where Blake was,” Mohs said. “I want it to be a place where you can look at it, where you can think about it and you can celebrate it. These are lives that were taken too soon and I don't want it to be a cemetery. I want it to be a celebration of who they were.

Related