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It was a moment of stark realization mixed with profound sadness for Pleasanton resident Lorie Mohs and her family Thursday morning as she read her victim impact statement during the sentencing hearing for the two individuals involved in the murder of her son.
For the first time in more than a year, she had to state the one thing she couldn’t bear herself to say in any official capacity: her son, Blake Mohs, is dead and is not coming back.
“Not saying my final goodbye or I love you to my son broke my heart. Telling my family Blake had been shot and killed was torturous,” the grieving mother said during her statement at Thursday’s court hearing in Dublin. “Walking the past 415 days without our son here on earth brought dark loneliness … writing my victim impact statement brought the realization that my son is really gone.”
She, her husband Eric Mohs, their son Matthew Labosky and Blake Mohs’ best friend Matthew Ridings all gave their own victim impact statements during the sentencing hearing at the East County Hall of Justice in Dublin Thursday morning. Accompanied by additional family and friends, the group held each other as the judge read out the sentencing for Benicia Knapps, 33, and David Guillory, 32, who were both involved in the murder.
Knapps, who pleaded no contest to a second degree murder charge and a gun enhancement, was sentenced to 19 years to life in state prison as part of a plea deal she cut with prosecutors, for shooting and killing 26-year-old Blake Mohs on April 18, 2023. Guillory pleaded no contest to child abuse, accessory to a robbery and evading an officer and was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison.
Both did not say anything during the sentencing. The Weekly attempted to reach out to their public defenders but did not hear back as of time of publication.
Blake Mohs was a loss prevention employee at the Home Depot on Johnson Drive in Pleasanton who tried to stop Knapps as she attempted to walk out with a large yellow Dewalt box without paying, according to court documents. When Blake Mohs intervened, Knapps shot him and ran to the getaway car driven by Guillory before the two fled the scene with their 21-month-old daughter in the vehicle.
According to past court documents, Knapps told police she was holding the gun but said it fired accidentally. After leading police on a chase that ended in Oakland, the two were arrested and have been at Santa Rita Jail ever since.
“I’m still lost and devastated. (I’m) barely able to convince myself of this new reality of a future without him,” Eric Mohs told the court. “I will miss Blake. His smile, his laugh, his heart and his devotion to others was a bright light that this dark world really needed.”
Initially, the two defendants were facing much more serious charges.
Knapps was first facing felony counts of first-degree murder for Blake Mohs’ death, possession of a firearm by a felon and child abuse for holding her 21-month-old daughter during the chase. Guillory was charged with four felonies: child abuse, accessory after the fact (knowledge of crime) to robbery, evading police with willful disregard for safety and evading police while driving against traffic.
But with the plea deal, the two were able to avoid more serious time in prison — Knapps could have faced 25 years to life in prison for the first-degree murder charge.
Alameda County Judge Paul Delucchi even mentioned toward the end of the hearing that while the family is in agreement with the disposition that was given on Thursday, he still had questions regarding the plea deal.
“The sentence that is about to be imposed, I don’t necessarily know that is commiserate with the offense,” said Delucchi. “I know that on countless occasions, if an offense such as this was committed … The ultimate result would be a sentence of life without the possibility of parole but I understand that is not on the table today.”
But as the two defendants stood inside the courtroom, with Knapps wiping away tears a few times as other family members spoke, Lorie Mohs said her son would have wanted his parents to forgive the two individuals on behalf of their faith.
That’s why she said even from the beginning, they knew they wanted to take a plea deal and not drag out the case by going to trial, which she said would only make her and her family relive the trauma of their loss.
“The charges were never accurate in Blake’s case, but our hearts evolved and changed as we went through this process,” Lorie Mohs said. “We (started) to look at the net loss of what a trial will do to your family, will do to your faith, will do to your finances, will do to your community.”
She also said a jury trial would also affect the families of the defendant, which she didn’t want to see happen, and looking to further punish the two defendants through a jury trial would only feel like revenge, which is not something her son would want.
That’s why she and her family were glad to put this behind them, not have to worry about the next court date, and truly begin the healing process.
“Today was a long time coming for us,” she said. “It’s been a long journey.”
She even said after the hearing that she wants to start a new chapter in her family’s life where they become advocates for victims of violent deaths. With all of the local and national media attention she and her family have been facing since her son’s death, she thought it would be a good idea to form some sort of community where anyone who has been a victim of such a crime can come together as a group and be there for each other without having to worry about the attention that comes with such crimes.
She also said she wants to look into creating a papier-mâché heart memorial for victims of violent crimes. She is still looking at funding and locations — although her favorite spot suggestion so far has been right in front of the courthouse because of her son’s love for law enforcement.
“This is where Blake was,” Lorie Mohs said. “I want it to be someplace that can be looked upon, and it can be thought about, and can be celebrated. These are lives that were taken too soon and I don’t want it to be a cemetery. I want it to be a celebration of who they were.”
