2021 Accused Cop Killer Deemed Competent

By Racquel Bazos - January 8, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Gale E. Rasin found a 33-year-old defendant accused of killing a police officer competent to stand trial on Jan. 5. 

Elliot Marcus Knox is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, firearm possession with a felony conviction, having a loaded handgun on his person and having a loaded handgun in a vehicle in connection to the murder of 39-year-old Baltimore Police Department (BPD) Officer Keona Holley on Dec. 16, 2021. 

The judge based her finding on a Dec. 30, 2023, evaluation completed by Spring Grove Hospital Center. After Judge Rasin made her finding, defense attorney Natalie Finegar told her client she would come to see him soon.

Knox will next appear in court on Jan. 16 for a motions hearing.

According to documents from the District Court of Maryland, BPD officers responded to the 600 block of Lucia Avenue for reports of a shooting. They found 38-year-old Justin Johnson in the driver’s seat of his vehicle suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Medics later pronounced Johnson dead at the scene.

Cartridge casings from the crime scene were consistent with those found at another crime scene on the nearby 4400 block of Pennington Avenue, where Holley was shot in her patrol car. Knox later admitted to his and his codefendant, Travon Shaw’s,  involvement in both shootings in an interview with police. Holley later died of her injuries.

Shaw, 34, was found guilty of Johnson’s murder in October 2023, with his sentencing slated for March 28.