A Baltimore man was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder in the 2021 ambush and shooting death of a city police officer, but jurors were left undecided on a potential motive during a multi-day trial. The verdict was rendered without hearing any evidence.
Jurors agreed that Elliott Knox, 34, was involved in the murder of Baltimore police officer Keona Hawley and the shooting death of another man whose body was found hours later in another area. . Hawley was shot multiple times while sitting in a marked police car during a night shift.
Police identified Mr. Knox as the owner of the vehicle seen on surveillance footage leaving the scene and took him into custody. He later gave a statement to detectives in which he acknowledged his involvement but identified another man, Knox’s co-defendant Travon Shaw, as the shooter.
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Shaw was found guilty in October of murder and other charges for his role in the second shooting, but has not yet been tried for Hawley’s murder. A second victim, Justin Johnson, was also sitting in a parked car when he was shot. Johnson’s partner said he was close friends with Shaw, but police were unable to establish Knox’s relationship to either victim.
Johnson’s mother, Justina Lawrence, told reporters after the trial that the verdict brought some comfort.
“But that doesn’t bring my son back,” she said. Johnson left behind five children.
Car parts and damaged grass are seen at Curtis Bay Park in Baltimore, Maryland, after the shooting of Baltimore Police Officer Keona Hawley on December 16, 2021. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun, Associated Press, File)
Nearly three days of testimony from detectives and other witnesses revealed little about why Knox took part in the shooting. He announced his decision not to testify Monday morning.
Hawley’s relatives said they were grateful for the conviction but were still troubled by the serious questions.
Holly, a mother and former nursing assistant, joined the police force in 2019 at the age of 37. Her loved ones say she was a truly “good cop” who wanted to give back to the community.
“I won’t rest until we find out why,” said his sister, LaWanda Sykes. She said she believes someone sent Knox and Shaw to ambush Holly.
The jury found Knox guilty on eight of nine charges, including two counts of first-degree murder. They acquitted him of one count of using a firearm in an act of violence, a charge related to Holly’s murder, which left jurors unsure whether Knox was the person who pulled the trigger in the incident. This likely indicates that there was no such thing.
Jurors began deliberating Monday afternoon and submitted a memo to the judge late Wednesday morning saying they had reached an agreement on all but one charge. Baltimore Circuit Judge Jennifer Schiffer ordered the case to continue deliberations.
In closing arguments Monday, prosecutor Kurt Bjorklund questioned Knox’s credibility and said the evidence suggested he was the one who pulled the trigger in both killings. Investigators found a handgun shell casing at the scene of Holly’s murder. They found shell casings from that handgun and an AR-style pistol at the second shooting scene. Bjorklund said the logical conclusion is that the two gunmen fired from different vantage points.
“Guys, this was a hit,” Bjorklund said. “This was targeted.”
Even if Knox did not pull the trigger, he said he was an accomplice and should be convicted of murder for that reason. Maryland law allows such convictions if prosecutors can prove that the defendant cooperated or played a supporting role in the criminal scheme.
Bjorklund did not suggest a potential motive, but said Knox and Shaw somehow knew Hawley’s whereabouts. They “headed straight there and executed her in her car while she worked,” he said. The evidence presented included location data from cell phone devices placed at two crime scenes.
But Knox’s lawyer, Natalie Finegar, said Knox’s admission of involvement in the crime was not enough to label her an accomplice. She said Knox’s confession helped police solve the murder. He identified Shaw and told him where the weapon was.
“He gave everything to them,” Finegar said. “He’s not a killer. He’s someone who got into a very bad situation and made some very bad decisions.”
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She cited Shaw’s reported gang ties and Knox’s apparent remorse. In her confession tape played to the jury, she claimed Knox was a coward for not trying to help Holly.
Prosecutors pointed to Knox’s dishonest answers at the beginning of the interrogation, in which he lied about his whereabouts and claimed he had lent his car to someone else on the night of the shooting. But Mr Finegar said there was no compelling reason to believe Mr Knox was lying throughout.
Knox faces life in prison without parole. His sentencing is scheduled for June 4.
