PLEASANTON — A woman who fatally shot a Home Depot loss prevention officer a year ago has reached a plea deal with prosecutors on a charge of second-degree murder, resulting in a negotiated sentence of 19 years to life in state prison, authorities said.
Her accomplice reached a deal that will send him to prison for more than seven years.
Benicia Knapps, 33, had been charged with murder, armed robbery, child endangerment and being a felon in possession of a firearm in the April 18, 2023, death of Blake Mohs, 26. The deal was announced Tuesday in a news release from Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.
Knapps pleaded no contest and was convicted Monday of a second-degree murder charge with a gun enhancement that included the negotiated sentence of 19 years to life in state prison.
Her co-defendant, David Guillory, 32, had been charged with evading police, resisting arrest, accessory to robbery and child endangerment. He pleaded no contest and was convicted of child abuse, accessory to a robbery and evading an officer, and will receive 7 years and 4 months in prison.
Mohs, who was planning to be married in the summer of 2023, was working as a loss prevention officer at the Home Depot store at 6000 Johnson Drive. He confronted Knapps, who had taken a tool storage box without paying, and was shot in the chest, according to court records.
Knapps and Guillory then fled in an SUV driven by Guillory that also contained Knapps’ daughter, then 21 months old, records said.
The vehicle was pursued by law enforcement officers to Ney Avenue in East Oakland, where both Knapps and Guillory were arrested. The child was turned over to relatives.
In the release announcing the plea deal, Price said: “Blake Mohs was murdered for nothing more than doing his job. My condolences go out to his family, friends, coworkers and the community who are still grieving his death. While nothing can be done to undo this senseless tragedy, I hope that holding these two defendants accountable for taking Blake’s life will be an important step in the lifetime healing journey for his family and friends, and they will be able to move beyond their grief and trauma.”
The release also said the district attorney’s office and its Victim-Witness Advocates have been in continuous contact with Mohs’ family throughout the court proceedings over this past year. In open court, the prosecutor stated on the record that the resolution occurred with the blessing of the next of kin, who were present in court during the negotiations with the defense and when the plea was entered.
Knapps and Guillory will be formally sentenced on June 6, 2024, at the East County Hall of Justice in Dublin. They remain in custody at Santa Rita Jail.