Couple accept plea deals in Home Depot worker’s slaying

A woman and a man accused in the fatal shooting of a loss prevention officer at a Home Depot store in Pleasanton pleaded no contest this week to various felony charges as part of a plea deal, according to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and court records.

The woman accused of shooting the worker, Benicia Knapps, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and a gun sentencing enhancement, and agreed to a term of 19 years to life in state prison. David Guillory, the suspected getaway driver, pleaded no contest to charges he was an accessory to a robbery and evaded police, and agreed to a prison term of seven years and four months.

Their sentencings are scheduled for June 6. Their attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The victim, 26-year-old Blake Mohs, was shot after he went to retrieve an item police say Knapps tried to steal at a Home Depot store on Johnson Drive on April 18, 2023. Knapps and Guillory took off in a car, with Knapps’ child in the vehicle, but Knapps and Guillory were arrested in Oakland about 15 minutes after the shooting, according to police.

In the aftermath of the fatal shooting, Pleasanton Mayor Karla Brown called Mohs “a model for others” and said his death was “infuriating.”

“Blake Mohs was murdered for nothing more than doing his job,” District Attorney Pamela Price said Tuesday in a statement. “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 plea deal was reached “with the blessing” of Mohs’ family, Price’s office said, adding that the family was in court when Knapps and Guillory entered their pleas.

The plea deals came after the family criticized Price last year for not pursuing more sentencing enhancements in the case, according to KNTV. Attempts to reach Mohs’ family were unsuccessful.

Mohs’ parents, Lorie and Eric Mohs, told local TV stations this week that the family asked for a plea deal — a move they described as a done deal that allows the family to get closure without the need to endure a trial.

“This is closure for us,” Lorie Mohs told KNTV. “This is closure for them, too. They get another chance, and that is important to me.”

Lorie Mohs said she hopes Knapps and Guillory turn their lives around. “I would like to see them work on themselves in jail,” Lorie Mohs told KGO-TV. “Find skills. Do something with your time that is going to change your life and your children’s life out here.”