Keona Holley Trial: Jurors examine evidence of man charged in deadly shooting of Baltimore officer
BALTIMORE -- Jurors got an in-depth look Thursday at the evidence a state prosecutor argues proves Elliot Knox shot both Baltimore Police Officer Keona Holley and Justin Johnson.
Holley was shot while sitting in her patrol car on Pennington Avenue in the Curtis Bay neighborhood early morning of December 16, 2021. She died a week later, just a few days before Christmas.
Johnson was shot and killed about an hour after Holley was shot on Lucia Avenue in the Yale Heights neighborhood. He was also sitting in his car.
Assistant State's Attorney Kurt Bjorklund first called to the stand Daniel Lamont, a forensic scientist who works in the firearms unit in Baltimore Police's crime lab.
Lamont testified he was the one to process the cartridges found at both shootings and the suspected guns.
Through tests and comparisons, Lamont said the six cartridges found where Holley was shot were consistent with two of the cartridges found where Johnson was shot. Testing also showed they were consistent with being fired from the Glock pistol found with Knox's help.
In his initial interview, Knox told police where to find two backpacks with guns at a home in Baltimore County. He told police this information when he revealed he was there when these shootings happened, as well as Travon Shaw's name, as shown in video evidence played in court.
Knox and Shaw both were charged with first-degree murder and several other charges in the deaths of Holley and Johnson. Knox is standing trial for both deaths.
A jury convicted Shaw in Johnson's death earlier in the fall. He is scheduled to be sentenced for that in March. He has yet to stand trial for charges related to Holley's death.
In his testimony, Lamont also said a third bullet found at Johnson's crime scene was consistent with being fired from the second gun found a semiautomatic AR-style pistol.
More video evidence was played in court on Thursday. Three short surveillance video clips showed two men walking along Hazel Street toward Pennington Avenue after 1 a.m. on Dec. 16, 2021, as well as running back the way they came from.
Other surveillance video showed Holley's patrol car moving and crashing into Curtis Bay Park after the shooting.
As of Thursday's lunch break, Bjorklund also called up a forensic scientist who swabbed a number of items for DNA evidence, as well as a Baltimore Police traffic division sergeant.
Due to witness availability, the trial will reconvene Monday morning.
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