Police firearms examiner, DNA analyst testify in murder trial for Baltimore Officer Holley, second victim

Expert witnesses testified for the prosecution Thursday in the trial of a man charged with fatally shooting Baltimore Police Officer Keona Holley and 27-year-old Justin Johnson in less than two hours three years ago.

The testimony of a firearms examiner and DNA analyst, both with the Baltimore Police Department, linked guns collected as evidence in the shootings to the defendant, Elliot Knox, and another suspect. Knox, 34, is standing trial on charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and firearms offenses stemming from the shootings on Dec. 16, 2021.

During an hours-long interrogation, shown in court earlier this week, Knox confessed to being present during both shootings — while blaming another man for pulling the trigger — and directed investigators to a house where he had stored the guns: a Glock 22 handgun, which fires .40 caliber rounds, and an AR-style pistol, which propels .223 caliber bullets.

Holley was ambushed around 1:30 a.m. while sitting in her patrol car in the 4400 block of Pennington Ave. in Baltimore’s Curtis Bay neighborhood. She was shot in the head twice, with bullets damaging her brain and neck, and died in the hospital about a week later.

Johnson was gunned down in his car around 3 a.m. in the 600 block of Lucia Ave., located in the Yale Heights neighborhood of Southwest Baltimore. He was shot six times, all in the back, injuring his spine, lungs and heart, and died at the scene.

Crime lab technicians collected six .40 caliber cartridge casings from the area where Holley was shot. They found two .40 caliber casings and one .223 caliber casing from the scene of Johnson’s death. All of the casings were submitted as evidence in the shooting and, eventually, sent for further analysis.

Firearms examiner Daniel Lamont testified about comparing the casings to each other under a comparison microscope, which allows an analyst to look at two pieces of evidence at the same time. Once he received the guns detectives recovered, Lamont said, he test fired them, collecting the casings ejected. He compared those casings to the ones collected at the crime scenes.

Lamont said he believed all of the .40 caliber casings picked up as evidence were fired by the same gun, and they were all “consistent with” having been fired by the Glock 22 handgun. He also said the .223 caliber casing from the scene of Johnson’s death was “consistent with” having been fired by the AR-style pistol.

Firearms examiners like Lamont once may have testified that a specific gun fired specific bullets, but the Supreme Court of Maryland last June placed limitations on what examiners could say in court. Recognizing limitations in the practice of firearm “toolmark” analysis, the state’s high court ruled that the most an examiner could say was that microscopic markings on an evidence bullet were consistent, or inconsistent, with bullets for which they know the gun that fired them.

A homicide detective who participated in the search of the house Knox identified as having the firearms from the shootings, and another residence, testified Tuesday about finding boxes of bullets of different calibers, gun cleaning kits, along with standard and high-capacity magazines.

The AR-style pistol had a homemade “brass catcher” affixed to it to collect casings ejected during firing, the homicide detective said in court. It also was loaded with a 30-round magazine duct-taped to another that was facing the opposite direction — another improvisation for quick reloading.

Defense attorney Natalie Finegar suggested during opening statements that the accomplice was responsible for both shootings, even though two different guns were used in Johnson’s killing.

During cross examination by Finegar, Sgt. Frederico Davis, who was the first officer at the scene of Johnson’s shooting, testified about how he originally hypothesized that one shooter opened fire with a rifle that jammed and then switched to a handgun.

Lamont said he test fired the AR-style pistol with the same magazine it was found with, though it was lighter because he only loaded three bullets, and that it functioned like it was supposed to.

DNA analyst Michael Lawson said both Knox and Shaw matched a profile of genetic material collected from the pistol. Lawson said his analysis could not determine a profile for the DNA taken from the Glock handgun.

Knox admitted during his interrogation to handling the guns while allegedly hiding them for his accomplice, Travon Shaw.

A jury found Shaw, 34, guilty in October of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and firearms offenses in the fatal shooting of Johnson. He faces life at sentencing March 28, the same day his trial in Holley’s killing is set to begin. His public defender declined to comment.

The homicide detective who located the guns, which were secreted in backpacks in a bedroom closet, as Knox had said, testified about finding masks and gloves alongside the weapons.

Knox’s trial will resume Monday.